"More people now die due to poor care than due to lack of access to care. So, more people now are getting to a facility, but then the care they're receiving is not what you would want them to get," said Michael Moneypenny, Regional Director for Aga Khan's Centre for Innovation in Medical Education.
Kenya's response is shifting accordingly, from simply staffing more facilities, to also ensuring the health workers inside them have the skills to provide quality care and manage emergencies when they happen.
On 20 August 2026, more than 50 participants from county and national government, health development and implementing partners met in Kajiado County to see one such response, a simulation-based training centre for maternal and newborn care, in the first-ever joint field visit organized by WHO-convened Development Partners in Health Kenya group.
The visit took the group to Kajiado County Referral Hospital, where the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Kajiado County Government have built one of four simulation-based training centres operating in the county, alongside sites at Loitoktok Sub-County Hospital, Ewuaso Kedong Health Centre, and Oltepesi Health Centre.
The centres train healthcare workers in managing maternal and newborn procedures, using simulated scenarios aimed at giving health workers the practical skills needed to managed emergencies, ultimately improving health outcomes for mothers and children.
“During simulation-based training, trainees are given different kinds of scenarios in which they can practice how to respond. This helps prepare them for real-life emergencies when they occur,” said Jooyoung Baek, Deputy Country Director for KOICA’s Kenya Office.
“I wanted to showcase this innovative approach, and if there are any partners who are willing to scale up this kind of practice, we’d be happy to share our experience, guidance and advice," Baek said.
“Lots of people know in theory what to do, but may not always be able to apply that knowledge in practice,” Baek continued. The simulation centre gives health workers a space to practise and make mistakes without risk to real patients, an approach organizers say directly targets the quality-of-care gap identified in the 2024 survey.
The Ministry of Health highlighted the benefit of building the centres within existing health facilities rather than standalone units. When the centres are built into existing health facilities, it keeps them under county ownership and integrated into facilities' regular operations.
“When training is embedded in the facility itself, it stays with the county long after any partner has moved onto the next project,” said Hon. Alex L. Kilowua, Kajiado County Executive Committee Member for Health. “What we have seen today is a demonstration that partnership works, and we hope that these kinds of investments will go a long way in improving access to health of all residents of Kajiado County.”
KOICA developed the project in partnership with the Good Neighbors, Aga Khan University Centre for Innovation in Medical Education and the Kajiado County Government, all of which joined the visit to share their experience.
Michael Moneypenny said Aga Khan's role included advising on cost-effective equipment purchases, designing the training space, and training the educators and technicians who run it. "What we are doing is trying to make sure that the healthcare workers have got the skills, so they can look after the people who are coming to seek their help. And simulation is one of the most powerful tools to help ensure that people have those skills."
The Development Partners in Health Kenya is a coordination platform that brings together partners to strengthen collaboration, promote coordination, increase effective use of resources, align support with Kenya’s national health priorities and increase collective contributions towards improved health outcomes across Kenya.
“We know that there are many partners in Kenya’s health sector. We have been engaging with these partners, and today we had the opportunity not just to tell them about our interventions, but to show them what we are doing. Seeing what we are doing is always better than just hearing about it,” said Jooyoung Baek.
“As an agency, we recognize that bringing more partners into a project can create synergies and greater impact, rather than working alone. Without coordination, there is always a risk of overlapping work or duplicating efforts.”
Moneypenny made a similar case; "without coordination, people end up either reinventing the wheel when someone has done that already, or perhaps they've got a certain amount of knowledge in some aspects of education, but not in others. So, if we can all get together and coalesce, then we can make sure that we maximize our abilities to work together and, in the end, make sure that patients are well looked after."
For the partners in the room, the visit offered a practical example of an approach that works and could scale: a chance to see what is succeeding on the ground, identify where efforts might overlap, and explore how existing solutions could be extended rather than duplicated elsewhere.
Among those present were officials from the Ministry of Health working on the Every Woman, Every Newborn, Everywhere (EWENE) initiative, a 2-year national plan launched by President William Ruto in May 2026 to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths.
"What we have seen in the skills lab is where we want to go as a country. Every woman and newborn deserves the best when it comes to quality of care and that for that to happen we need a health workforce that is motivated, capacity-built, and well taken care," said Dr Julliet Omwoha, Head of Newborn and Child Health at the Ministry of Health, who is highly involved in the EWENE initiative.
Currently, approximately 16 mother and 90 newborns die every day in Kenya.
"Capacity building is very important to reduce deaths," Omwoha said, pointing again to the 2024 survey's finding that most maternal and newborn deaths were linked to the quality of care provided rather than access to care itself. "With use of practices like this initiative, we believe that health care workers will be better equipped in their skills to ensure we save our mothers and newborns, and to ensure that at the end of the day we have a healthy nation."
"I can see the benefit of bringing everyone on board, not just the Ministry of Health or county government, but all partners. It's not only about the financial support that we get, but also the technical know-how, the learning from each other, peer to peer," she said, adding that partners from other countries can bring guidance drawing on varying experiences.
This visit comes as at important time as the Government of Kenya has just received $80 million by the Beginnings Fund with the goal of reaching 6 million women and newborns and avert 50,000 deaths by 2030 across 21 priority counties. Representatives from the Beginnings Fund were also present in Kajiado.
As Kenya works to close the quality-of-care gap behind preventable deaths of Kenyan mothers and newborns, coordination among health partners will be critical to reaching its targets. Seeing first-hand what individual partners are doing on the ground helps ensure the country's response stays coordinated, avoids duplication, and builds on a shared understanding of what is already working in each county.
“We hope this visit will be the first of many,” said Dr Neema Kimambo, WHO Representative to Kenya. “As WHO, we remain committed to strengthening partnership across Kenya's health sector, maximizing resource efficiency, and ensuring the country stays on the best path towards achieving health for all”.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.
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