Geographical Locations - Kenya

• (Statistical) Number of Inhabitants per Doctor: 10,150
• CIA World Factbook : Kenya

Organisations and Networks

UN and Multinational

• WHO
  - WHO Country Profile - Kenya
  - WHO - Tobacco Control: Country Profile: Kenya
  - WHO - Environmental Burden of Disease: Country Profile – Kenya
  - WHO - Malaria Country Profile - Kenya
• WHO - Regional Office AFRO in Brazzaville, Congo
• UNDP in Kenya

Government

• Government of Kenya
• Ministry of Health

Non-Government

• AfriAfya
  AfriAfya is a non-governmental organisation based in Kenya focussed on harnessing information and communication technology for community health. It aims at improving health through increasing the availability of relevant up-to-date health information in target communities.
• CARE in Kenya
  CARE International began operations in Kenya in 1968. Over the past 29 years, the organisation has provided humanitarian and development assistance to communities in the areas of primary health care, education, small economic activity development, agriculture and food distributions.
• Foundation Agency for Rural Development
  FARD implements programming designed to promote self-sufficiency among the rural poor. It addresses community issues of food security, consistency of income, education, basic health, and HIV/AIDS.
• IRC in Kenya
  Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee is a world leader in relief, rehabilitation, protection, post-conflict development, resettlement services and advocacy for those uprooted or affected by violent conflict and oppression. This site outlines IRC activities in Kenya.
• KANCO - Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium
  Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (KANCO) is a premier national membership network of NGOs, CBOs and Faith Based Organizations involved or have interest in HIV & AIDS activities in Kenya.
• Kenya Disabled Development Society
• Kenya Red Cross Society
• Kwacha Africa Troupe
  Kwacha Afrika Troupe (KAT) is a youth based community organization in Kenya. Its members have been involved in HIV & AIDS awareness, prevention and care programs as well as drug abuse intervention, malaria prevention and reproductive health activities .
• Learning Development Kenya
  LDK is a national non-governmental and non-sectarian development organization founded in June, 1998. Its mission is to respond to the needs of communities and its children, with a primary objective of improving the quality of life of those in need, as defined with words such as extreme poverty, destitution, oppression, deprivation and austerity.
• Marie Stopes International in Kenya
  The MSI Global Partnership provides sexual and reproductive health information and services to 4.3 million people worldwide. Each Partner (country) programme is a non-government organisation that is locally registered, managed and staffed. MSI is the leading provider of family planning and obstetric care in Kenya. It runs 21 centres and two outreach projects.
• MSF in Kenya
  MSF is an independent, humanitarian medical aid agency committed to two objectives; providing medical aid wherever needed, regardless of race, religion, politics or sex and raising awareness of the plight of people it helps.
• Population Council Kenya
  The Population Council's research agenda in Kenya focuses on improving the quality of reproductive health services; preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS; safe motherhood; and transitions to adulthood

Academic Institutions

• Kenyatta University, Department of Foods, Nutrition and Dietetics
• Kenyattta University, School of Health Sciences
• Moi University School of Medicine
• Moi University School of Public Health
• University of Nairobi

National Policy and Related Documents

Reports, Guidelines, and Projects

• Availability and use of emergency obstetric services: Kenya, Rwanda, Southern Sudan, and Uganda
  The article summarises the baseline assessments of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) carried out in Uganda, Kenya, Southern Sudan, and Rwanda in 2003 and 2004. Objectives: Our objectives were to: (1) set up program baselines on the availability and utilization of EmOC services in these countries; (2) identify gaps and obstacles in providing EmOC services; and (3) make recommendations to governments based on evidence generated. Methods: Data were collected from clinical record reviews, provider and client interviews, observations, and focus group discussions. Either random or universal sampling was applied in the selection of health facilities assessed. Local nurses and midwives participated in the data collection and, to some extent, data processing and analysis. Results: The coverage of basic EmOC services ranged 0—1.1/500,000 population compared to the UN-recommended level of 4/ 500,000. The coverage of comprehensive EmOC services ranged 0.5—4.3/500,000 compared to the recommended level of 1/500,000. Between 0.6% and 8.8% of all births took place in EmOC facilities, and 2.1% and 18.5% of all expected direct obstetric complications were treated. Cesarean section as a proportion of all births was between 0.1% and 1%. Shortage of trained staff especially mid-level providers, poor basic infrastructure such as lack of electricity and water supplies, inadequate supply of drugs and essential equipment, poor working conditions and staff morale, lack of communication and referral facilities, cost of treatment, and lack of accountability and proper management were identified as the main obstacles in providing 24-h quality EmOC services especially in remote and rural areas. Conclusions: Lack of basic EmOC services limits women’s access to life-saving services during obstetric complications. To reduce maternal mortality ratio the states and development partners need to focus their effort to improve the coverage, quality, and utilization of EmOC services through supportive national policy, effective program strategies, increased budget allocation to maternal health program, rural infrastructure development, and regular monitoring, and evaluation of progress. [author abstract] [International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics (2005) 88, 208-215]
• Citizen's report card on urban water, sanitation and solid waste services in Kenya: Summary of results from Nairobi
  "In 2006, a range of locally based stakeholders in Nairobi launched a Citizen Report Card (CRC) to obtain citizen's experiences on water supply, sanitation and solid waste services. The CRC tool is used to provide feedback to public service agencies on the strengths and weaknesses of their work. CRC's facilitate prioritization of reforms and corrective actions by drawing attention to the problems highlighted and facilitating cross fertilization of ideas and approaches by identifying good practices. The Kenya Alliance of Residents Associations (KARA), a locally based organization coordinated the initiative on behalf of a wider, multi stakeholder forum called the 'Nairobi City Consortium.' The consortium which was created as a platform to nurture dialogue around service, included service providers such as representatives of the Athi Water Services Board, the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, the Councils' environment department, resident representatives and local civil society groups. The Water and Sanitation Program in Africa and the Public Affairs Foundation in India provided technical assistance to the process. The survey sought to examine citizen satisfaction and experiences in four main sectors namely water, sanitation, solid waste management and communication. The six themes identified for data analysis and presentation [in this World Bank report of December 2008] are organized into; i) availability, access and use of services; ii) perceptions of quality and reliability; iii) costs incurred by users; iv) transparency of service delivery; v) interactions with the service agencies; and vi) information provision."
• Delivering Antiretroviral Therapy in Resource Constrained Settings: Lessons from Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda
  This document is intended for governments, development partners, and public and private health facilities seeking to integrate antiretroviral therapy (ART) into existing HIV services. It describes lessons learned from a Family Health International pilot project establishing ART sites in Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda.
• Educational and Nutritional Status of Orphans and Children of HIV-Infected Parents in Kenya
  This report examines how school attendance and nutritional status differ between orphaned and fostered children and between children of HIV-infected parents and non HIV-infected parents in Kenya. Results indicate that children of HIV-infected parents are significantly less likely to be attending school, more likely to be malnourished and less likely to receive treatment for ARI and diarrhea than children of non-HIV-infected parents.
• Health workforce attrition in the public sector in Kenya: a look at the reasons
  Background: Kenya, like many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has been affected by shortages of health workers in the public sector. Data on the rates and leading reasons for health workers attrition in the public sector are key in developing effective, evidence-based planning and policy on human resources for health. Methods: This study analysed data from a human resources health facility survey conducted in 2005 in 52 health centres and 22 public hospitals (including all provincial hospitals) across all eight provinces in Kenya. The study looked into the status of attrition rates and the proportion of attrition due to retirement, resignation or death among doctors, clinical officers, nurses and laboratory and pharmacy specialists in surveyed facilities. Results: Overall health workers attrition rates from 2004 to 2005 were similar across type of health facility: provincial hospitals lost on average 4% of their health workers, compared to 3% for district hospitals and 5% for health centres. However, there are differences in the patterns of attrition rates by cadre. Attrition among doctors and registered nurses was much higher at the provincial hospitals than at district hospitals or health centres, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for laboratory and pharmacy staff (lost at a higher rate in lower-level facilities). In provincial hospitals, doctors had higher attrition rates than clinical officers, and registered nurses had higher attrition rates than enrolled nurses. In contrast, attrition of enrolled and registered nurses in district hospitals and health centres was similar. The main reason for health worker attrition (all cadres combined) at each level of facility was retirement, followed by resignation and death. However, resignation drives attrition among doctors and clinical officers; retirement accounts for the main share of attrition among nurses and pharmacy staff; and death is the primary reason for attrition among laboratory staff, particularly in district hospitals. One limitation of the data is that sampling of health centres was non-random and the results may thus not be representative of all health centres. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that appropriate policies to retain staff in the public health sector may need to be tailored for different cadres and level of health facility. Further studies, perhaps employing qualitative research, need to investigate the importance of different factors in the decision of health workers to resign. [author abstract] [Human Resources for Health 2009, 7:58]
• Intersection of Gender, Access and Quality of Care in Reproductive Services
  In this 2005 report the author Karen Hardee examines how gender can be integrated into reproductive health care delivery, using examples form Kenya, India and Guatemala.
• Smoke and Health in Kenya
  This site outlines a Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) project in Kenya to address the problem of indoor air pollution created by smoke most often produced in cooking.
• The costly access to essential medicines in Kenya: Voices of consumers on affordability and availability
  "Between August and December 2007, Health Action International (HAI) Africa conducted a rapid qualitative survey to gather testimonies from consumers about how they fulfilled their medical needs. This exercise was informed by findings from earlier studies on medicine prices and availability, which indicated that only about 30 percent of Kenyans had access to essential medicines, and that high prices and poor availability were the major factors limiting access… Most of the respondents appreciated the Government’s effort to provide free and subsidised treatment through public health facilities. However, they complained about frequent stock outs of medicines in these institutions. When medicines were unavailable people were forced to look for them elsewhere, usually at private retail outlets. Unfortunately the prices of medicines in the private sector were beyond the financial means of many of them. Rural areas were found to be more affected in this respect."
• UNGASS 2008 – United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS: Country Report – Kenya
  "Kenya’s HIV prevalence has halved in a decade—a dramatic and sustained decline that has rarely been seen in Africa. The most recent modelling of sentinel surveillance data indicates that prevalence stood at 5.1% among adults at the end of 2006 compared with 10% in 1997/98. This turnaround can be attributed to greater awareness and the resulting behaviour change as well as a lower incidence of new infections and higher death rates. There is strong evidence to suggest that there has been a reduction in risky behaviour, such as through increased condom use, delay in sexual debut and fewer partners. VCT sites are more widely available so that a greater number of Kenyans now know their status. New adult infections peaked at 200,000 in 1993. The epidemic is now moving into the death phase, which means that the mortality rate has doubled since 1998 and exceeds the rate for new infections."

Educational Resources

• CDC Traveler's Health : East Africa
• Demographic and Health Statistics Kenya
  Demographic and Health Surveys provide large sample data for a wide range of monitoring and impact evaluation indicators in the areas of population, health, and nutrition.
• Population Council, Kenya - Publications and Resources
  This page provides both links to the full text of a variety of Population Council project reports and articles concerned with population and health in Kenya.
• UNAIDS/WHO Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV and AIDS: Core data on epidemiology and response – 2008 update – Kenya
  Number of people living with HIV: [1 600 000 - 1 900 000]; Adults aged 15 to 49 prevalence rate: [7.1% - 8.3%]; Adults aged 15 and up living with HIV: [1 400 000 - 1 700 000]; Women aged 15 and up living with HIV: [900 000 - 1 100 000]; Children aged 0 to 14 living with HIV: [140 000 - 170 000]; Deaths due to AIDS: [90 000 - 110 000]; Orphans due to AIDS aged 0 to 17: [1 100 000 - 1 300 000]