However, with the GGR, FHOK lost funding for the small stipends they gave to the peer educators. FHOK spread the word about the center through a Facebook page, word of mouth and peer educators. The center is a place for young people to get information and access to contraception. Keeping young people engagedĪnother way that FHOK stayed involved in the community in Malindi was through the youth center which opened in 2013. “At the end of the day, the quality of service is compromised.” Still, the staff carry on, undeterred. Today everyone left fills in the gaps, “Now you have to work as a nurse and receptionist,” said Abdilllahi of the strain. Once the GGR hit, though, a nurse, a driver, a counsellor and the receptionist were all made redundant. Clinical Officer Adillahi Ali, stands for a portrait in front of The Family Care Medical Centre (FHOK) in Malindi, Kenyaīefore the GGR, Abdillahi recalls, the clinic had a ‘big team’. GGR has meant 20 staff redundancies and decreased access to consortium funding and partnershipsĪbdillahi Ali, the clinical officer at the Family Health Options Kenya office in Malindi, a big town in coastal Kilifi county, south east of Nairobi, says the impact of redundancies has been tough for everyone. Another seven are at risk of closures and are currently operating with reduced services. In total FHOK lost about USD $1.5 million for integrated health projects for the most marginalized communities to prevent and treat HIV. Today, Amos Simpano estimates about 35,000 people have access to healthcare through outreach programmes. With the help of funding from IPPF’s GGR emergency grant, outreach services were able to start again but only at about half capacity. In some places the mobile services offer general care, check-ups, cervical cancer screenings, HIV testing, family planning advice and contraception.Īmos said that when GGR hit, the outreach clinics stopped. In rural areas, outreach clinics can be even more important because often no other health providers exist. A patient gives blood for a rapid HIV test at the laboratory in The Family Care Medical Centre (FHOK) in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya Before GGR was implemented FHOK reached about 76,000 people annually with its mobile outreach clinics, said Amos Simpano, FHOK’s Director of Clinical Services. It is not just the mobile outreach in Kibera that has been hit by the cuts other services across the country have been reduced or closed. Before the Global Gag Ruleīefore GGR, FHOK was able to provide three or four outreach clinics a month in different parts of Kibera where they distributed supplies, did tests and conducted screenings etc. With a population at approximately 180,000, Kibera is East Africa’s largest slum, a bustling valley of tin roofs that cover small homes, schools and offices, with inefficient or non-existent sewage systems many people rely on getting access to sexual health services. Mary, who has been a volunteer for FHOK’s Family Care Medical Centre in Kibera since 2012, says that one of the consequences of GGR in Kenya was that it had hindered “getting commodities and supplies like condoms, IUDs” and that people had lost their jobs. Healthcare services reduced or forced to close Clinical Officer Adillahi Ali, checks baby Fatma as she sits with her mother Anisa, at The Family Care Medical Centre (FHOK) in Malindi, Kenya It means that critical funding is blocked for other sexual and reproductive services like contraception, maternal health, and HIV prevention and treatment. funding to organizations like Family Health Options Kenya (FHOK) if they use any money to provide abortion services, counselling or referrals. Since GGR was re-introduced by this US administration on January 23rd 2017, Mary says she has seen a rise in sexually transmitted infections (STI’s), especially syphilis, as well as an increase in unsafe abortions. Over the last two years she has seen first-hand the impact of the Global Gag Rule (GGR). Single mother of five, Mary Mukuhi, is a businesswoman and family planning volunteer in one of Nairobi’s biggest slums, Kibera.
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