The Office of the First Lady, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), and the University of Liverpool have joined hands to launch a 5-year tripartite partnership called Mama Doing Good. The initiative seeks to address the issue of household air pollution in Kenya and improve community health. According to the Ministry of Health’s report in 2021, household air pollution is responsible for the death of more than 23,000 Kenyans.
To combat this issue, the partnership aims to train 130,000 community health workers across the country to educate people on household air pollution. Furthermore, the initiative will provide policy support for the adoption of clean fuels in homes and institutions, thereby advancing the clean cooking agenda in Kenya.
Dr. John Chumo, CEO of Mama Doing Good, emphasized the First Lady’s dedication to empowering women socially and economically to transition to clean cooking methods, which will minimize household air pollution and related illnesses. Prof. Daniel Pope, Director of CLEAN-Air Africa, University of Liverpool, expressed his confidence that this collaboration would influence similar actions across East Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, benefiting millions of people.
Dr. James Mwitari, senior research fellow at KEMRI and co-director of CLEAN-Air (Africa), noted that the partnership would assist Kenya in primary and secondary prevention of household air pollution-related diseases by promoting clean cooking and empowering the community health workforce. The partnership’s main objective is to increase awareness and demand for clean cooking solutions while reducing air pollution and improving community health.
