Kenya: Grant to Help Fund Safe Babies Immunization Initiative, Health Education for Mothers

Donato Tramuto, the Founder of Health eVillages, today announced during a visit to Africa that the organization has made a grant to the Lwala Community Alliance’s (LCA) Safe Babies program in Migori County, Kenya. The grant will help fund pre- and post-natal immunizations as part of LCA’s Safe Babies program.
Tramuto announced the grant at LCA’s hospital in Lwala, where he was accompanied by other members of the Health eVillages team.
“The rates of infant and maternal mortality in the Lwala region are high. Out of every 1,000 births, 95 babies die before their 1st birthday, more than ten times as many as in the U.S.,” said James Nardella, LCA’s Executive Director. “Just $200 pays for pre- and post-natal care, including immunizations and patient education, for a mother and her child. The contribution from Health eVillages will help us provide potentially life-saving services for mothers and their babies in Migori County.”
The Safe Babies program has had a tremendous impact in the lives of mothers and babies in the Lwala area. Currently 96 percent of pregnant women are delivering their babies at a health facility with a skilled nurse, up from 26 percent four years ago. A team of LCA community health workers also recruit and enroll pregnant women throughout greater Migori County to participate in the entire continuum of maternal, neonatal and child health care.
Health eVillages is a program founded by Tramuto and Physicians Interactive in partnership with the not-for-profit Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights (RFK Center). Health eVillages provides iPod®, iPad® and other handheld devices equipped with specialized references and clinical decision support tools to improve primary and preventive healthcare in underserved areas around the world.
“Health eVillages is excited to be able to continue its support of the Lwala Community Alliance through its Safe Babies Program,” said Tramuto, who is also the CEO and Chairman of Physicians Interactive. “LCA’s 80 community health workers work very hard to recruit and enroll women of reproductive age in the entire spectrum of care to provide a safer environment for the delivery of their babies. The critical work these dedicated clinicians do in providing full immunizations and education on birth spacing, prenatal care during pregnancy and safe delivery with a skilled attendant helps ensure these babies have a healthy start to life.”
The Lwala Community Alliance was founded in 2006 by brothers Milton Ochieng, M.D., and Fred Ochieng, M.D., to create sustainable solutions for the Lwala community. The Vanderbilt University Medical School graduates created the LCA to fulfill the vision of their late parents to build a hospital and provide healthcare for residents throughout Migori County.
About Health eVillages
Health eVillages, a program of the not-for-profit Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights and Physicians Interactive, provides state-of-the-art mobile health technology including medical reference and clinical decision support resources to medical professionals in the most challenging clinical environments around the world. For more information about Health eVillages, please visit http://www.healthevillages.org/.
About Physicians Interactive
Headquartered in Reading, MA, PI aspires to use the power of worldwide networks of healthcare professionals and life sciences companies together in ways that will change the practice and business of medicine for the better. PI’s value proposition is to offer the life science industry a low-cost, virtual, multi-channel marketing approach that can be used to supplement currently promoted products, as well as non-promoted and orphaned products, that deliver benefits to physicians and patients. A key focus is providing services that fit into physicians’ and healthcare professionals’ daily workflow at the point-of-care when they make diagnosis, treatment and prescribing decisions. More information can be found at   www.PhysiciansInteractive.com.
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