This year, the 2nd Cross County Learning event, hosted by Kisii County, was a two-day affair filled with insightful discussions, knowledge sharing, and strategic planning. Organized as part of the Kenya Quality Ecosystem (KQE) Project, this event organized by Jacaranda Health and ThinkWell, aimed to enhance maternal and newborn health (MNCH) outcomes through collaboration and innovation.
This is a group photo from KQE Workshop held in Kisii County in 2025. It hosted Kisii, Mombasa and Makueni Counties. Photo Credits: Eugene Namusende
The event saw a diverse lineup of attendees, including the Kisii Deputy Governor, the Head of Section RMNH-MOH, representatives from the Council of Governors, County Executive Committee Members, Chief Officers and other key health officials from Makueni, Kisii, and Mombasa counties. The presence of these influential teams underscored the importance of the event and the collective commitment to improving maternal health services. Throughout the event, the participants engaged in a series of activities:
- Knowledge sharing: Counties showcased their successes and lessons learnt over the last two years of the KQE implementation.
- Data Utilization: They explored effective and impactful ways to generate actionable insights from the data shared and how to prioritize areas of improvement crucial for enhancing MNCH outcomes.
- Resource Optimization & allocation: Discussions centered around optimizing revenue generation and using data-driven decision-making in prioritizing the allocation of funds to areas with the highest impact on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health.
Achievements and Innovations
Each county shared its learnings, unique achievements and approaches they used to meet the project objectives to enhance maternal and newborn health.
- Kisii County
Notable achievements included a 96% active participation rate in EmONC mentorship among frontline maternity providers and expanding it to other key hospital units. The county also reported on the expansion of PROMPTS coverage to 56 facilities, and trained 20 emergency medicine teams to enhance their referral systems and in-transit management of obstetrics emergencies. The county also developed the first draft of the County Emergency Medical Care (EMC) Plan, laying the foundation for a coordinated emergency response framework.
- Makueni County
The county successfully introduced a Result-Based Financing (RBF) model to incentivize referral Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). They also increased facility coverage from 32 to 40 and empowered 14,840 mothers (96.5%) with essential pre- and postnatal information. The team engaged 201 mentees, with 175 actively participating, covering 96% of frontline healthcare workers, enhancing skills and service quality. Furthermore, they strengthened their referral system by training 200 Community Health Promoters (CHPs) and 4 healthcare workers (HCWs) in emergency medical care and procured two ambulance units to enhance emergency response capacity.
- Mombasa County
They empowered 18,523 mothers with pre- and post-pregnancy health information, exceeding the annual target by 106%, with county-specific customized health messaging. They also implemented EmONC mentorship in 11 facilities, training 72 mentees with a 92.2% curriculum completion rate. Furthermore, to strengthen their referral systems they established coordination structures, training 25 emergency medical personnel in emergency response and dispatch, launched the Emergency Medical Care (EMC) Plan, and developed standardized referral forms for efficient patient tracking and follow-up.
These accomplishments highlighted the dedication and ingenuity of the county health teams in addressing critical challenges and improving maternal and newborn health outcomes.
Looking Ahead
The learning event concluded with a set of commitments from each county, aimed at sustaining and scaling the progress already made over the last two years. These commitments included increasing the use of data dashboards, enhancing blood management systems, and strengthening referral services, among others. The collaborative approach showcased at this event offers a promising path forward to improving maternal and newborn health outcomes across Kenya. The event not only highlighted the power of knowledge sharing but reinforced the importance of working together to improve our health systems across different counties in Kenya.
