Lwala Community Alliance

Migori County suffers from some of the highest rates of maternal & child mortality and HIV prevalence in Kenya, including a maternal mortality rate of 673 per 100,000 live births, an under-5 mortality rate of 82 per 1,000 live births, & an HIV prevalence of 16-20% (compared to the national rate of 6%). The majority of the population is cut off from the formal healthcare system which results in dangerous home deliveries and lack of access to essential services, such as vaccinations & medication.

Lwala catalyzes the capabilities of communities to tackle the multidimensional drivers of poor health. In 2007, western Kenya faced the compounded crises of rampant HIV transmission & drastically high maternal & child mortality rates. This community donated community land & resources to build their region’s first clinic & develop holistic health solutions. Early in its founding, Lwala teamed up with the research prowess of Vanderbilt University, & began to rigorously measure its interventions.

Lwala is much more than a hospital—it is a community-led health model creating a drastic reduction in child mortality (from 105 to 29.5 deaths per 1,000 live births), a 98% skilled delivery rate, virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, gender parity in primary school completion, and a 300% increase in contraceptive uptake. Lwala works by placing communities at the forefront of the design, implementation, and evaluation of their own solutions to the multi-dimensional causes of poverty. Based on community demand and bottom-up program design, we develop public health, education, and economic initiatives that provide integrated services. Our community-led health model includes four key pillars: community committees, health centers, Community Health Workers (CHWs), and data. The model is uniquely positioned for systems change and we are on track to influence how one million Kenyans access healthcare.