The First Lady of Kenya, Margaret Kenyatta, and UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures visited a Beyond Zero mobile health clinic in Kibera, an unofficial settlement in Nairobi that is home to more than a million people.
The mobile clinic is one of 18 around the country opened as part of Ms Kenyatta’s Beyond Zero campaign, which aims to boost efforts to eliminate new HIV infections among children and improve maternal survival rates by the end of 2015 among some of Kenya’s most vulnerable communities. Beyond Zero provides comprehensive medical services to residents, complementing care received at other facilities.
The clinic was established with the support of National Youth Service workers and young volunteers from the community itself. Half of Kibera’s residents are under 15 years old and youth unemployment rates are extremely high. Most residents of the settlement earn less than a dollar a day.
“It is gratifying to see vulnerable groups that were previously unable to access medical services doing so through the community clinic. This initiative will serve as a model to emulate for other informal settlements.”
Margaret Kenyatta, First Lady of Kenya
“We have the science and the knowledge to end the AIDS epidemic. The way to do this is to bring services to the heart of communities and to the people that need them most. That is what I have seen today in Kibera.”
Luiz Loures, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director
