October 2013

MSH reconfirmed its commitment to ending childhood deaths due to diarrhea and pneumonia by renewing its endorsement of the Declaration on Scaling Up Treatment of Diarrhea and Pneumonia (PDF).

MSH has a long history of acting on two of the areas specifically outlined in the declaration, namely promoting "access to affordable, high-quality, over-the-counter ORS and zinc products and/or access to and rational use of amoxicillin in both public and private sectors" and supporting "sustained demand creation to increase awareness of use for diarrhea and/or pneumonia treatments, including teaching caregivers when and where to seek treatment and improving knowledge and skills of health providers to promote and deliver appropriate treatment and care."

We call on you to celebrate the girl child, read and support the Girl Declaration—a call to action for the post-2015 development agenda to prioritize girls and stop poverty before it begins—and help educate and empower the girl child in all of us. Many of us are shaped by what we experience as children. For those in high-income countries, the world of the girl child is often full of possibilities and options. However, for many in low- and middle-income countries, the girl child lives in a world fraught with harsh realities and limited choices. To understand the journey of women, we must look at the girl child not only as a period in one’s life but as one which continues to live in all of us as we reach adulthood and beyond. "I was not put on this earth to be invisible."

At the Devex Partnerships Forum, being held today in Nairobi, Kenya, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) urged the private sector to collaborate with health institutions to improve management, enable better service delivery, and lower the cost of healthcare in Kenya.

With the healthcare service being devolved to counties in Kenya, a number of challenges exist, such as unequal distribution of human and material resources to health facilities. This strains the governance of the institutions as the few personnel are stretched, handling large clientele as well as administration.

MSH partnered with higher learning institutions to develop curriculums on leadership and governance which can be pursued by health workers. Such leadership curriculums will assist stakeholders to ensure the right people are employed for the right job.

Watch MSH Kenya: Envisioning A World Where Everyone in Kenya Has the Opportunity for a Healthy Life