First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has kicked off plans that will culminate in honoring nurses in public hospitals for their outstanding role in promoting maternal and child health.

The move, which will crown this year's Beyond Zero summit, is part of the efforts in place to realizing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Kenya.

The meeting, which will be held in September, will also provide a platform for participants to reflect on stepping up access to primary healthcare as a means to promoting better healthcare services for citizens.

A key pivot of President Kenyatta's economic blueprint, the Big Four Agenda, is the achievement of UHC.

Beyond Zero is an initiative of the First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, who has been promoting access to healthcare by delivering fully kitted mobile clinics to all counties in Kenya among other health promotion initiatives.

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Beyond Zero technical advisor, Ms Jane Kiragu, underscored the First Lady’s commitment to preventing maternal and child deaths.

“The First Lady is committed to doing everything within her powers to avert preventable maternal and child deaths so that, as a country, we can attain zero maternal and child deaths,” Ms Kiragu said at a pre-summit forum on May 20.

The first pre-summit meeting held both physically and virtually drew participants from seven clusters who met in Kajiado, Nanyuki, Malindi, Isiolo, Nakuru, Kakamega and Kisumu counties.

The team deliberated on the criteria and processes to be deployed picking the outstanding nurses to be honored during September forum.

In partnership with the World Bank, Swiss Pharmaceutical company Roche and the Kenya Medical Training College, this year’s summit builds on Beyond Zero’s intervention to step up primary healthcare advocacy support by offering scholarships to enrolled community health nurses in arid and semi-arid zones.

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