Our Busia, Kenya, learning site continued its upward performance trend in Q1. This was driven in part by replacing malfunctioning phones for about 10% of the CHWs, capacity building sessions and refresher trainings. On-time postnatal care visits remained high at 86% against our target of 75%. This indicates that the CHWs we support are effectively checking in with new mothers and their babies within 48 hours of birth—which is when maternal and child deaths are most likely to occur. In Kenya, out of every 1,000 live births, 21 newborns die within the first 28 days of life. CHWs who visit in this window are able to assess the health of both the mother and the newborn and identify any potential danger signs or illnesses early. Additionally, CHWs provided an average of 28 sick child treatments or referrals per month, exceeding our target by 18%.

Nearly 1,800 unintended pregnancies were averted with high per-CHW performance on couple years of protection2 of 3.6 in Q1 2023 versus 2.3 in the same quarter last year. However, we have not yet met the ambitious new targets we set for 2023, and have put in place a plan to improve results (page 8). Overall, we are excited by CHW performance in Busia County, and it remains the gold standard in Kenya and for governments, partners and community health implementers more broadly.