Primary health care (PHC) is the most basic package of essential health services and products needed to prevent disease, promote health, and manage illness. In the case of preventing and treating diarrheal disease, PHC includes basic child health tools like immunization, oral rehydration solution and zinc, and health education for parents. Read about how Kenya is advancing PHC with a new framework.
Child health in Kenya: opportunities and actions
Kenya’s new, unified policy for child health is a commitment to families and communities. The Ministry of Health's Newborn and Child Health Strategic Plan aims to empower health systems so that children may “Thrive, Survive, and Transform.”
PATH is proud to be one of several partners that supported the Kenya Ministry of Health to develop a comprehensive and actionable plan. Browse the resources below to learn more about child health in Kenya: the gaps, opportunities, and vision for a healthy future.
According to the Kenya Newborn and Child Health Strategic Plan, deaths among children under five declined from 110,000 in 1990 to 69,000 in 2017. Scale-up of “high impact interventions,” like ORS and zinc, is among the reasons cited for this progress. Dive deeper into the data and learn how Kenya and other countries are tracking toward global goals in the Countdown to 2030.
Deaths among children under five have declined in Kenya. But 1 in 19 children will not reach their 5th birthday. Pneumonia and diarrhea are top threats; learn how the national strategy will address these and other resilient risks to children.
In Kenya, 26 percent of children are chronically malnourished. Diarrhea is more prevalent and dangerous when children’s nutritional needs are not met.
Kenya’s national strategy aims to transform environments to support adolescent health. Ensuring girls have access to sanitation, for example, not only improves community health but also provides girls with educational and economic opportunity.
Currently, only 42 percent of infants 4-5 months old are exclusively breastfed in Kenya. The national strategy aims for 50% coverage of exclusive breastfeeding by 2025.
Kenya is one of six countries to include co-packaged ORS and zinc in its List of Essential Medicines for Children. But community awareness of this cornerstone diarrhea treatment remains low. Kenya has prioritized availability of ORS and zinc in clinics throughout the country.
Proven tools can defeat diarrhea: vaccines; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); nutrition; exclusive breastfeeding; and oral rehydration solution and zinc. Use our report to advocate for funding and uptake.
To address the most resilient threats to child health, PATH's country director in Kenya highlights the importance of partnerships and strategy that addresses national and local needs.
In 2022, the Kenya Ministry of Health launched its Primary Health Care network guidelines, to support counties in strengthening primary health care service delivery. We asked some of our advocacy partners to explain why primary health care is a priority in Kenya.
Pneumonia is the leading cause of child death in Kenya, and interventions to prevent and treat it often overlap with diarrheal disease solutions. The Ministry of Health’s new fact sheet details the burden of pneumonia in Kenya, as well as strategies and actions that health facilities and advocates can take to help overcome it.
Kenya’s national strategy reflects goals of the UNICEF/WHO Global Action Plan for Pneumonia and Diarrhea (GAPP-D), which provides a framework to protect children using proven interventions that have contributed to major reductions in child deaths.