In Gilgil, mothers are reaching care earlier — and fewer babies are being lost

In Gilgil Sub-County in Kenya, community health workers spent five years going door to door with a simple offer: support for mothers, close to home. The results of the Mother to Mother SHIONOGI Project, run with the Japanese organisation JOICFP, are now in. The share of mothers making at least four antenatal visits rose from 52% to 79%; full vaccination coverage among children climbed from 85% to 90%; households treating their drinking water rose from about 70% to 91%; and the number of underweight children under five fell from 329 to 127 — a drop of about 61%. Delivery complications halved. A sister project in Ghana's Upper Manya Krobo District built a maternity ward, a waiting house for mothers, a clinic and staff housing where safe births had been hard to reach.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: institutional program