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Blog
Technology can be an Enabler of Social Behaviour Change in health
By Dr Meshack Ndirangu, Country Director, and Fidelina Ndunge, Project Officer, Amref Health Africa in Kenya Changing people’s health-related behaviour can have a major impact on some of the largest causes of mortality and morbidity. Improving the health seeking behaviour of communities and thereby creating demand for health services is essential to the realisation of universal health coverage (UHC). Recent research published in the Journal for Public Health[1], draws attention to the relationships between health and behavioural pr
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News
Reducing Teen Pregnancies through School-Based Integrated Outreaches
Kaikor, Turkana
“I want to be doctor when I grow up and an early pregnancy will not stop me,” says Jeremiah Ikaru*, 19, a Form 2 student at St James Kaikor High School. “Before the school-based outreaches were brought to our school, we believed that having sex with girls during their period would not get them pregnant. The school-based integrated outreaches have helped me get information about safe sexual reproductive health practices. This has also redefined how I engage with girls especially on matters sex. Read More
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News
Averting Health Worker Strikes through Round Table Forums in Turkana County
Participants of a Roundtable meeting between the Turkana County Department of Health Leadership and Health Worker union officials at Cradle Hotel, Lodwar With health service delivery crippled in a number of counties across the country as a result of the ongoing nurses’ strike, Amref Health Africa in Kenya is leading the way in bringing the striking nurses and county health leadership to the negotiation table. Building on the belief that harmonious labour relations within the health sector are critical in ensuring stable health systems, Amref through the USAID
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Blog
Why We Must Join Hands To Beat The Shame Of Obstetric Fistula
By Dr Elizabeth Wala An obstetric fistula is a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder that is caused by prolonged obstructed labour, leaving a woman incontinent of urine or faeces or both. Thousands of women across Sub-Sahara Africa who are living with Obstetric Fistula cannot lead a normal life. Isolation and social segregation is their daily reality; they find themselves ostracized and disowned by their own families and the community. This creates a massive psycho-socio impact on the quality of life the patients live and curtails their contribution to their fami
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Personal Stories
Commendable steps by Amref Health Africa in addressing Obstetric Fistula among Women and Adolescent Girls
Christine Muthengi is a 59-year-old nurse and mother of nine children, four of which are adopted. Upon qualifying as a nurse in 1978 in Kenya, she began her career in 1979. In 2006, she underwent training on diagnosis and examination of obstetric fistula patients thus qualifying as a fistula nurse. Since then, she has been engaged actively in training of nurses on preventive measures and repair of obstetric fistula, a hole in the birth canal that causes incontinence. She advocates for pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics without fail because this way the health workers are able to monito
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News
287 Girls Graduate from Childhood to Womanhood without ‘The Cut’
It is ‘cutting season.’ A few years ago at this time of the year, thousands of girls in Rombo Ward, Oloitokitok, Kajiado County would face the circumciser’s knife. Today, communities in Oloitokitok are slowly embracing Alternative Rite of Passage (ARP) for girls, a ceremony that replaces and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) and girls transition into womanhood without being circumcised. After finishing a three-day ARP training programme where they were taught about reproductive health, child rights, harmful and good cultural practises among the Maasai co
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Personal Stories
They Called Me ‘Virus Doctor’: Winnie’s Story
From an HIV health service provider to running the Amref Kibera Health Centre as a Facility in Charge, Winnie Nzioka has served the population of Kibera and its environs for the last 18 years. Her journey as a nurse serving Nairobi’s largest informal settlement is one of endurance and hope. Winnie served with dedication despite the stigma she and her colleagues faced back when the AIDS epidemic had a firm hold in Kenya and was taking the lives of many within the informal setting.
“In 2003, dealing with HIV clients was very challenging. The clients would come to the health f Read More
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News
Addressing Reproductive Health Issues by Redefining Sexuality Education
The Health Systems Advocacy (HSA) Partnership held its second joint action planning meeting in November, underscoring the need to promote Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Africa.
The forum which was held between November 27 and 29, also called on strengthening human resources for health and sustainable health financing because only a strong health system can ensure SRHR.
The HSA partnership brings together Amref Health Africa, the African Centre for Global Health and Soc
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