Unfriendly nurses factored into Kenya's high infant mortality rate.Survey conducted by health ministry indicated that women especially in rural areas shy away from delivering in hospitals because of ‘unfriendly language of the nurses’,

By Felix Olick
The US government, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, has launched a campaign seeking to  reduce preventable deaths in Kenya by 50 per cent by December 2012.
The campaign dubbed "Let’s Live" will focus on HIV/Aids, maternal and infant mortality, non-communicable diseases and child health illnesses.

Speaking during the launch at Windsor Hotel in Nairobi yesterday, US Ambassador Scott Gration said the campaign is in support of Kenya health priorities.
The US envoy was confident that most killer diseases in Kenya are preventable especially if health facilities are made accessible and affordable.

Gration said they have narrowed to the four leading killer diseases and expressed confidence that reduction of mortality by 50 per cent is not far-fetched.

Shy away"Kenya has ambitious plans to try and tackle high mortality diseases. Lets Live campaign will complement and expand these plans," said Scott.

Public Health Minister Beth Mugo, who spoke at the forum, blamed the increasing number of women delivering at home on unfriendly nurses.

Mugo said a survey conducted by the ministry indicated that women especially in rural areas shy away from delivering in hospitals because of ‘unfriendly language of the nurses’, which is dangerous.
"I wanted to know why these women go for prenatal care but eventually do not go to hospitals to deliver. But the results indicated that they feel harassed by the nurses," said the minister.
Medical workers
Earlier, Dr Juliana Otieno from Nyanza Provincial Hospital had blamed the increasing number of traditional birth attendants in Nyanza on unfriendly health workers.
"Traditional health workers thrive in Nyanza because of unfriendly medical workers. Sometimes they are quarrelled on why they failed to come for ante-natal clinics," said Otieno.

The Health minister attributed the behaviour to too much work for the nurses but noted that they have embarked on sensitising health workers on the benefits of good relationship with the patients.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s wife Ida said educating girls is the gateway to solving most of health problems.
Ida said that the hype on social media could be translated to address health issues.
She said that social networks could enable communication, information collaboration, information collection and sharing for health care purposes.