The Ministry of Health has said infant mortality has reduced from 32.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021 to 30 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022.This is a 3.47 percent decline from 2021 .
The infant mortality rate for Kenya in 2021 was 32.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, a 3.36 per cent decline from 2020.
This was said on Saturday during World’s Pneumonia Day at Radisson Blu Hotel as Kenya joined the world to commemorate this day.
Further, it was reported that Kenya has made tremendous progress in reducing child mortality in the last 10 years and has registered a 30 percent decline in the number of children who die under five years according to MOH.
This has been attributed to increased uptake of ORS and Zinc for the management of diarrhoea in children under five years and improved exclusive breastfeeding practices.
Further this has been associated with introduction of new childhood vaccines like pneumococcal and rotavirus, use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets and the scale-up of skilled birth attendants are other factors.
Health CS Susan Wafula, said those living in poor communities are at the highest risk of pneumonia saying every child, regardless of where they are born, deserves access to lifesaving vaccines and medicines.
Caroline Mwangi, Head of the neonatal and child health division at the ministry, said pneumonia is the number one killer of children after the neonatal period but suffers in terms of visibility, financial investments, and research funding.
To mitigate this problem the ministry introduced scale up interventions that have a long-term impact on mitigating these causes in line with the frameworks of pneumonia interventions of protect, prevent and treat.
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