KISENYI HC IV SCOOPS NATIONAL SAFE MOTHERHOOD AWARD

Kisenyi Health Center IV has scooped the 2022 safe motherhood award, another indication of quality services delivered by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

The facility scored the highest in the country on all safe motherhood parameters of family planning, antenatal care, obstetric care, postnatal, post abortion care, STDs and HIV control, communication and behavioral change, primary health care, equity and education for women. During the safe motherhood conference that was held in Kampala in October by the Maternal Child Health and Nutrition project funded by USAID, awarded Kisenyi HC IV for safe motherhood.

On 29 November, the KCCA Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka received the Safe Motherhood Award at a dinner organized by USAID, FHi360 and KCCA.

According to Kisaka, Uganda continues to register great improvement in the area of safe motherhood and child mortality with support from partners such as USAID Uganda through programs like the Maternal Child Health and Nutrition (USAID MCHN) designed and funded to better maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition (MCHN) outcomes in Uganda.

“The good news is, the situation is not as gory as in the past, thanks to the incredible work we are doing through our health facilities such as Kisenyi Health Centre IV,” Kisaka said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2019), approximately 830 women die daily from preventable causes associated with pregnancy and childbirth. In 2017, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in developing countries like Uganda was found to be 462 per 100,000 live births.

“People don't know what a great work you people in health sector are doing. But I want to thank you for the great job” Kisaka said

She also noted that KCCA is building a smart city, a transformational initiative that will change the way in which the city functions to make Kampala more inclusive, safe, sustainable, efficient, resilient and ultimately a better place to live, work and play.

The Smart City is focused on leveraging Technology twinned with Infrastructure for our People’s wellbeing in the growth and development of our City.

“Kisenyi Health Centre IV’s incredible work and the recognition that it receives today is an exemplification of what People’s wellbeing means to us, in the grand scheme of building a Smart City. Mothers, young women, girls and babies should not be dying under our watch from preventable and avoidable ailments and circumstances. That is living SMART; that’s the least a SMART CITY should be able to bestow unto its citizens” Kisaka said.

Dr. Daniel Ayen Okello, Director of Public Health and Environment at KCCA said safe motherhood is a principal where mothers are supposed to get the care they need to deliver safely and have healthy babies.

“We lose like 70 babies every week in Kampala and majority of the babies are suffocating to death. We need to help them not suffocate and Kisenyi HC IV is helping us get there. We have excelled in delivering health babies and safe mothers and we are really excited for having been recognized and we promise to do better and continue winning these awards” Daniel said.

Dr Nathan Tumwesigye of FHi360, thanked KCCA and particularly Kisenyi HC IV for the good work they are doing in this field. He revealed that FHi360 want to remain with KCCA in this journey up to 2024.

Kisenyi is not new to good performance in health delivery services having been awarded the second best Health Center IV facility in the country last year. It was only beaten by Kawaala Health Center IV another KCCA health facility.

Sr. Elizabeth Egesa, the in-charge of Kisenyi Health Centre IV revealed that the Health Center handles close to 10,000 maternal deliveries and 12,000 mothers visiting for antenatal care a year.

She said she wasn’t so much surprised that during the recently concluded Safe Motherhood Conference held under the theme ‘a responsive health workforce for safe motherhood’ in October; Kisenyi HC IV was awarded an accolade of the best Health Center IV in the country for safe motherhood.

“Kisenyi has the most post-natal attendance in this country. There is great teamwork in Kisenyi and good client care. We received three substance anesthetists who help us in our theatre to operate 24/7” Egesa said.​