Stakeholders in the health sector, on invitation of the United States Ambassador to Kenya, His Excellency Scott J. Gration  met to discuss strategies to help Kenya attain her health related Millennium Development Goals (MDG).  Ambassador Gration, who was sworn in as US Ambassador to Kenya in April 2011, expressed concern over the the poor performance [...]

The Ministries of Health are in the process of reviewing policy, legal and administrative frameworks of the health sector in line with the new Constitution. The key documents under review and which have been presented for stakeholders’ inputs are the draft Comprehensive Kenya Health Policy Framework 2011-2030 and the Draft Position Paper on the Implementation [...]

In the year 2009, when the government established the Hospital Management Services Fund (HMSF), the health facility management boards at the facility level were replaced by management committees through Legal Notice No. 155 of the Government Financial Management Act.
Subsequent to the establishment of the Hospital Management Services Fund (HMSF) the Ministry of Medical Services (MOMS) embarked on a process to strengthen the management and governance systems through building the capacity of the newly appointed Hospital Management Committees across the country. This included the gazettement of the National Hospital Services Committee (NHSC) at the national level and of the Hospital Management Committees (HMCs) at the hospital level. The NHSC was gazette on 22 January 2010 and inaugurated on 6 May 2010 while the HMCs were gazetted on 1 April 2010. The next step undertaken by the Ministry of Medical Services with the support of Development Partners was the formulation of the Governance Guidelines for Hospital Management Committees and inducting these committees into their new roles. At the initial stage, the Ministry of Medical Services received funding from USAID through the Management Sciences for Health (MSH) to develop the guidelines, conduct training of trainers at the provincial level across the Country and produce a national rollout plan and budget. GIZ participated and provided technical input into the development of these guidelines.

During the national roll out of these guidelines, GIZ provided substantial resources to the Ministry of Medical Services towards the induction of the Hospital Management Committees. To date approximately 1553 members of Committees from 161 hospitals have received training and approximately 1032 members of Committees from 107 hospitals are yet to be trained. GIZ financed the training of 600 members of committees from 62 hospitals.

The GIZ Health Sector programme in Kenya is promoting forward thinking 21st century approaches to mitigating health related problems using appropriate cutting-edge technologies. The “GIZ Biomedpark Public Private Partnership (PPP)”, is such an example. The project aims to improve diagnosis, therapy and quality of care in the areas of HIV, gender based violence (GBV) and [...]

“What is ‘Innovation’”? “What does it mean for the ‘health’ market?” were some of the basic questions discussed in a round table forum on “Health Market Innovations” held on September 27, 2011, which was organised by the Institute of Health Management Policy and Research (IHPMR). It was underscored that issues of awareness, impact, market access, [...]

“Our smiles share our happiness. Our scars show our injuries—and the healing that followed. Our hands hold the memories of all that we have touched—our families, our sorrows and our dreams—where we are soft and unprotected, and where we are calloused from the difficulties of our lives.“-Jane, 45, participant From the 5th of August till [...]

Kenya is one of five African countries that will mark the World Contraceptive Day that will be held on  26th September. The theme for this year is “Live Your Life. Know Your Rights. Learn about Contraception.” In order to increase public awareness of this day and the issues around contraception the  the Division of Reproductive [...]

The emerging health challenges that characterise the 21st century such as  explosive population growth, increased mobility, urbanisation, poverty and climate change are straining the already overwhelmed health care systems of especially developing countries. This is coupled with the financial crisis, political unrest and unpredictable weather patterns. In response to this challenge, the University of Bielefeld [...]

Family planning is one of the most cost effective measures to reduce maternal mortality.  It is therefore a key factor to consider for Kenya to achieve her Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 target on reduction of maternal deaths. Currently, the unmet need for family planning stands at 26% according to the latest Kenya Health and [...]

15th of September 2011: a GIZ delegation and partners visited Wajir and Makueni, two districts severely affected by the drought. Purpose of the visit was to get a first hand  impression of the situation on the ground.