By Agwanda Saye

The national NGO Coordination Board has embarked on a massive recruitment drive of all expectant women in Kisumu County as part of a wider 5 year program to improve maternal and child health in the region.

Executive Director of NGO Coordination Board Dr Hezron McObewa says the board is working closely with health sector NGOs within the county to compliment government efforts geared towards reducing infant deaths.

He says the Board has launched a project with one of the largest NGOs in Western Kenya, OGRA Foundation alongside other sector NGOs like Omega Foundation and Port Florence community hospital to give free National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) cards to expectant women.

McObewa says the pilot project of the program has kicked off in Muhoroni district in Kisumu County where over 100 expectant women within health centres and dispensaries’ have so far been recruited.

He says the women will be issued with NHIF cards as soon as they arrive for their first antenatal care clinic all the way through their pregnancy so that they can get enhanced services at delivery as part of efforts to improve safe deliveries’.

McObewa who is also the OGRA Foundation Founder Trustee and Former Director said Ogra is currently in the process of finalizing Memorandum of Understandings (MOU’s) with dispensaries and health centres within Kisumu County to give them delivery kits to every successful delivery that occur in such facilities.

He said they have asked partner organizations to initially set aside Kshs 6 Million per year for the program to improve maternal and child health care adding that Ogra has committed to set aside Kshs 6Million for the project annually to ensure the program covers all expectant women in the county.

He said project will run for 5 years alongside partnership with other NGOs’ adding that they will have covered the whole Kisumu County by end of June 2014 before rolling out the program in other counties.
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