Child mortality in East Africa is still alarmingly high. In the countries of the East African Community (EAC), the number of children who die by the age of five per thousand live births is 85. The global average is 46. The EAC countries have successfully improved health care for their citizens in the last few years. But malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory diseases still claim many victims, above all children. These diseases are preventable and treatable. However, people, particularly in rural areas of the EAC, have poor access to health care services because they are too far away or too expensive. There is also a lack of service quality and adequate medical products to effectively prevent, diagnose and treat diseases. KfW Development Bank supports training for midwives and nurses in the EAC countries to ensure that pregnant women have better care and infants have a healthier start to life.
An essential component of health care is good supply chain management, i.e. an adequate management for supply of health centres with medical products. This includes vaccines, diagnostic tests, drugs, medical devices and family planning. To meet the acute shortage of employees with professional training in supply chain management at the national, regional and district level as well as health centres, the EAC strives to establish a Regional Centre of Excellence to strengthen these competences. KfW supports the EAC in developing a high-quality training program in health supply chain management and in creating a regional hub for expertise in supply chain management that can support the introduction of innovation within the region. The training centre will be located in Kigali at the University of Rwanda, School of Public Health (UR/SPH) and pursue regional networking. The Centre of Excellence contributes to the goals of the new Africa initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and of the German six-point plan for global health.
KfW also finances vaccinations in cooperation with the international Gavi Vaccine Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, today simply Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance). In the last few years, innovative vaccines have been developed against viruses that cause respiratory diseases and diarrhoea. Children who are immunised are protected against these diseases for their entire lives. With its engagement, KfW contributes to significantly lower child mortality in East Africa.
Project information - Health (PDF, 165 KB, non-accessible)