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Kenya: Alert Over High Child Deaths
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The Nation (Nairobi)
1 July 2008
Posted to the web 1 July 2008
Mike Mwaniki
Nairobi
More than 400 children under the age of five die daily from preventable diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and HIV.
"It is sad to note that one in every nine children dies before the age of five," said Public Health minister Beth Mugo Monday as she sounded the alarm over the high death rate.
Kenya is ranked 31st among countries with high under-5 mortality rates.
Mrs Mugo was launching a campaign to reduce maternal and child deaths, dubbed Malezi Bora, that encourages mothers to deliver in hospitals and sleep under treated mosquito nets with their children.
According to experts, between 6,000 and 15,000 women die annually while giving birth.
The campaign also strives to ensure that children are immunised from killer childhood diseases such as measles, whooping cough and tuberculosis.
During the campaign, the children will also be treated for common illness and given vitamin A supplements as well as deworming tablets.
The initiative will run for the next two months.
Speaking at Ndurarua grounds in her Dagoretti constituency, Mrs Mugo said the current 115 deaths per 1,000 live births among children below five was "extremely high and unnecessary".
Fundamental
"Vitamin A supplementation is one of the fundamental nutritional interventions that enhance child health and reduces disease related deaths by 13 per cent," she added.
Mrs Mugo said her ministry estimates were that more than 20,000 child deaths could be averted annually if children received vitamin A supplement as recommended.
Speaking at the same ceremony, Nairobi deputy provincial medical officer James Irungu said many women die annually while giving birth because of giving birth at home.
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Out of the 1.2 million deliveries in the country each year, only an 40 per cent occur in hospitals.
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