Public health and professional standards Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni says the government is committed to provide the highest standard of health in the wake of challenges posed by HIV, teenage pregnancies and gender based violence.
Speaking in Mombasa at the close of the Maisha conference, Muthoni said the government is reviewing gaps in infrastructure and human resource with the recently concluded national health facility census providing critical information towards the endeavor.
“The concerns voiced in this conference regarding the HIV status among adolescents and young people will continue to be our foremost concern going forward. The variety of viewpoints shared should expand our horizons, inspiring us to explore, innovate, and uncover new approaches to tackle the challenges.” Said the PS.
She said the issues raised at the conference on adolescent and young adults will be among priority areas for the ministry of health amid concerns over increased cases of new infections among the group.
Homabay governor Gladys Wanga, who is also the vice chair of the health committee at the council of governors, said county administrations are ready to partner with the national government to end pediatric AIDS. She said her administration has developed robust programmes aimed at addressing challenges posed by HIV, teenage pregnancies and gender based violence.
Chuka Igambang’ombe MP Patrick Munene, who is also the vice chair of the national assembly health committee, said he will submit some of the resolutions of the meeting including bridging the health financing gap to the budget committee that is currently in the process of budget making.
Resolutions of the conference include increasing capacity for community and health systems to address multiple concurrent epidemics, investing in knowledge & and infrastructure; and exploring strategies to enhance the domestic resource envelope for the sustainability of the HIV response, establishing a Pediatric Parliamentary Caucus within the national assembly to address issues related to children.
Others include undertaking needs assessments and developing a national emergency response plan that adopts a multi-sectoral approach towards a coordinated stakeholder engagement when addressing emergencies and humanitarian crises, adopting and scaling up a human centred design approach, driven by data, to support communities address their problems while utilizing existing local resources, Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B (triple elimination) to be offered as part of a comprehensive package of fully integrated, routine antenatal care interventions.
