The government has ordered all health facilities across the country to record and audit every case of maternal and infant death in a new push to reduce preventable mortality.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the Ministry of Health will not tolerate the loss of mothers or newborns due to avoidable causes, describing the deaths as unacceptable in a modern healthcare system.
Speaking during the 4th graduation ceremony for specialized nurses in Oncology, Critical Care, Perioperative, and Nephrology Nursing at Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH), Duale said every maternal or newborn death must now trigger immediate investigation and response.
“Any maternal or newborn death is one death too many. We are moving from words to systems that prevent avoidable deaths during delivery,” he stated.
The CS announced that the government will conduct a nationwide reproductive age mortality survey to establish the true number and causes of deaths among women of reproductive age, saying the findings will guide future interventions and resource allocation.
Duale further revealed that the Ministry is digitizing the maternal and perinatal deaths surveillance system, requiring hospitals to record and submit real-time data through the national digital health highway.
“Every morning, health facilities will be required to report all maternal and newborn mortalities. Failure to report or falsifying data will attract criminal sanctions under the Digital Health Act,” he warned.
He added that the government is tightening hospital standards, including emergency readiness, blood and oxygen supply, triage, referrals, and respectful maternity care across all facilities.
KUTRRH Chief Executive Officer Dr. Zeinab Gura reaffirmed the hospital’s commitment to patient-centred, evidence-based healthcare, saying the facility is expanding bed capacity and investing in innovative research.
Board Chairperson James Kibugu called for closer collaboration between the national and county governments to address the shortage of specialized nurses, citing the need to ease funding and student release mechanisms.
