A new KSh6.8 billion (USD52.5 million) funding package from Unitaid will support Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ghana, and Senegal in tackling two of the most persistent and preventable drivers of maternal and newborn deaths, preeclampsia and anaemia.

Preeclampsia, a condition characterised by dangerously high blood pressure during pregnancy, remains a major global killer of mothers and newborns. It can escalate quickly if undetected, leading to organ failure, seizures, or death for the mother, and premature birth or stillbirth for the baby. Anaemia, meanwhile, affects nearly four in 10  pregnant women worldwide and significantly increases the risk of severe bleeding during delivery, low birth weight, infections, and maternal mortality. Despite being both preventable and treatable through timely screening, iron supplementation, and proper antenatal care, the two conditions continue to drive high death rates in sub-Saharan Africa, where health systems often struggle with late diagnosis and inconsistent access to essential medicines.

The new funding will support a regional programme designed not just to supply medical tools, but to fix the systemic bottlenecks that prevent them from reaching women in time. These include weak supply chains, unreliable procurement cycles, poor-quality diagnostics, limited availability of essential medicines in rural facilities, and gaps in training among frontline health workers. In many cases, even when facilities are officially stocked, shortages occur due to distribution inefficiencies, cold chain failures, and delays in restocking at lower-level health centres.

The initiative, “Saving and Sustaining Lives Through Preeclampsia and Anaemia Reduction with Innovative Maternal Solutions” (SUPREME), brings together global health financing, supply chain reform expertise, and on-the-ground implementation networks. One component focuses on improving the affordability and availability of commodities by working with manufacturers and suppliers to stabilise markets for diagnostics and treatment tools. Another focuses on strengthening health systems by training health workers, improving antenatal care delivery, and building evidence to support national adoption and scale-up.

At the centre of the programme is a shift from availability to delivery – ensuring that life-saving interventions are not only present in national systems but reliably accessible at the point of care. The approach recognises that many maternal deaths occur not because treatments do not exist, but because women are not diagnosed early enough or do not reach facilities where care is available.

This gap between policy and practice is particularly evident in maternal health outcomes in Kenya. Despite increased investment in maternal and newborn health and ongoing reforms under Universal Health Coverage, maternal mortality remains high at an estimated 355 deaths per 100,000 live births, far above the global target of fewer than 70 under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and anaemia continue to rank among the leading direct causes of these deaths.

Health experts involved in the programme note that lifesaving tools already exist but are unevenly distributed and inconsistently used. The challenge, therefore, is not invention but implementation, ensuring that diagnostics, medicines, and clinical protocols are embedded into routine antenatal care services and reach women early in pregnancy.

Community health systems are expected to play a central role in closing this gap. Community health workers will be critical in identifying high-risk pregnancies, promoting early antenatal visits, and ensuring timely referrals for women who might otherwise present late to health facilities or not at all. This is especially important in rural and underserved areas where access to formal healthcare remains limited.

The broader objective of the initiative is to strengthen national health systems so that improvements are sustained beyond the programme’s life. By integrating supply chain reforms, workforce training, and data-driven decision-making into existing government structures, the programme aims to ensure that gains in maternal health are scalable and long-term.

Ultimately, the focus is on shifting toward ensuring that proven interventions translate into real-world impact, reducing preventable deaths by closing the gap between what health systems are capable of delivering and what women actually receive during pregnancy and childbirth.

(Source: Daily Nation)