Healthcare multinational Johnson & Johnson has teamed up with a local drugs supplier to reduce maternal deaths in Kenya. Through the Mama and Toto Rescue Project, Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS) is helping to address maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH) challenges in seven counties.
The project, which provision of grants to health facilities, is running in Kisumu, Taita Taveta, Mombasa, Kitui, Nairobi, Vihiga and Kirinyaga. The partnership was unveiled yesterday at the MEDS partners’ forum held in Nairobi.
Johnson & Johnson has advanced MEDS $120,000 (Ksh12 million) grant to manage for the project which, it says, is in line with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 on reducing child mortality and improving maternal health.
MEDS Head of Finance Jacob Onyango said the organisation is collecting vital data that will contribute towards disbursement of resources. The project ensures the selected facilities are equipped through donations of incubators, baby resuscitation equipment, training and medicines.
In Kenya, the grant has been shared among eight facilities, with the highest getting Ksh1.3 million and the lowest Sh1 million. Johnson & Johnson Director Corporate Social Contributions Conrad Person said the company has been running a comprehensive initiative dubbed Every Mother, Every Child, which is geared towards improving the health of women and children in developing countries, targeting 120 million women and children every year.
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