Nairobi Kenya — More than 33,000 women in Lamu county have benefitted from Safaricom Foundation's neo-natal and child health program.

Joe Ogutu, Chairman, of Safaricom Foundation said the telco firm invested over 42 million in equipping and upgrading health facilities which ultimately bridged major gaps that were limiting access to maternal healthcare,

The program done in partnership with Lamu county Government and PharmAccess linked up over 11,900 women in hard-to-reach areas representing a 60 percent reduction in distances covered.

According to Henry Kilonzo, Senior Manager of Safaricom Foundation, the program also led to over 20,000 households being enrolled into the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) which has enabled them to access health services in a timely and effective fashion.

Kilonzo said that Lamu was one of the counties that contributed highly to maternal deaths therefore the initiative ensures to reach as many community members as possible.

"We started reviving the community health workers, we also ensured equipped facilities for mothers to have quality care. We also addressed the issue of referrals, transport in Lamu is expensive because it's mostly by the ocean we therefore donated a water ambulance," Kilonzo said.

About 500 community health volunteers (CHVs) were trained and provided smartphones to monitor households. Further to that 161 workers were employed for service delivery.

Victor Tole, Lamu County Chief Officer for Medical Services says that their objectives were addressing demand, coordination and access to services.

"There has been a lot of capacity building of the healthcare workers, we now have about 90% of women coming to deliver in health facilities, which in itself is a remarkable achievement," Tole said.