By: Our Correspondent
Worth Noting:
- During the ground breaking ceremony governor Kahiga noted that his government has prioritized health services in its next 5-year plan and reiterated his commitment to providing quality, accessible and affordable health services to all Nyerians.
- “This project will greatly change the lives of our mothers and children and put a significant milestone towards achieving our vision of ending maternal and neonatal deaths in Nyeri County. The construction of this maternity unit is a timely one as it will help decongest Nyeri County Referral Hospital, where all the maternity cases in the sub-county are referred to, as it serves a catchment population of over 30,000 persons drawn from Majengo slums, Ngangarithi, Nyeri town, and its environs,” noted the Governor.
A state of the art maternity care facility is set to be established in Nyeri town.
Construction of the multimillion shillings establishment which is being funded by Japan started yesterday with a ground breaking ceremony graced by among others, the Nyeri County governor Mutahi Kahiga.
This project is in joint partnership with the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) following the signing of an MoU in March of this year. Upon completion, the maternity will host a 35-bed capacity antenatal and postnatal wards, Maternal and Child Health clinic, laboratory, consultation rooms, specialized clinics, delivery room, a new-born unit, Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD), nurse stations, offices, kitchen, and laundry.
The project’s second phase will involve procuring the requisite state-of-the-art modern medical equipment to supplement the infrastructure.
During the ground breaking ceremony governor Kahiga noted that his government has prioritized health services in its next 5-year plan and reiterated his commitment to providing quality, accessible and affordable health services to all Nyerians.
“This project will greatly change the lives of our mothers and children and put a significant milestone towards achieving our vision of ending maternal and neonatal deaths in Nyeri County. The construction of this maternity unit is a timely one as it will help decongest Nyeri County Referral Hospital, where all the maternity cases in the sub-county are referred to, as it serves a catchment population of over 30,000 persons drawn from Majengo slums, Ngangarithi, Nyeri town, and its environs,” noted the Governor.
The Governor also expressed his gratitude to the Government of Japan, the Japanese Embassy, and JOICFP for their immense support in planning, funding, and actualization of the project.
JOICFP County Coordinator Mr. Kazuki Fujushima stated they are committed to strengthening maternal and health child services in line with Sustainable Development Goal 3, which strives to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health for all.
Nyeri Town Health Centre is located in Nyeri Town and offers outpatient services, consultation, and HIV services with no maternity services. As such, this partnership will be instrumental in boosting and enhancing maternal healthcare within the facility.
The County Government of Nyeri has done a tremendous job in promoting the Health sector, including developing public health infrastructure within the facilities and implementing the Nyeri Health Services Fund, which seeks to address the issue of drug shortages within the health facilities. Moving forward, the operationalization of Naromoru Hospital will be a major priority.
Also present were area MCA Stephen Mbogo, CECs Robert Thuo (Health Services), Esther Ndung’u (Gender), Margaret Macharia (Education), Muthui Kariuki (Transport), Health Chief Officer Ibrahim Adan, Transport Chief Officer Julius Ringera, Director Health Services Dr. Nelson Muriu, Chief Representative of the Japanese Embassy Kobun Sakurada among others.
Felix Njenga