WORKSHOP ON INFLAMMATORY SKIN AND JOINT DISEASES

Omondi Oyoo a Rheumatologist at the University of Nairobi (left) , Pfizer Laboratories GIP BU Director Nigeria and East Africa Jonathan Brand (centre) and Professor Femi Adelowo of Lagos State University share a light moment during a workshop on inflammatory skin and joint diseases (Psoriasis and Rheumatoid Arthritis) held recently in Nairobi.

AIRTEL LAUNCHES MENTORSHIP PROGRAM FOR MUKURU PROMOTIONAL CENTRE

Bharti Airtel, launched a mentorship program for Mukuru Promotion Centre, St. Bakhita Primary School located in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, off Enterprise Road. 

The Airtel staff-driven program seeks to inspire the students, encourage the exchange of ideas and share insightful knowledge and life skills that will help them nurture their talents and gain a place in the professional practice.    

The company also presented the school with a cheque worth Kshs 525,000 to cater for this year’s school fees for the 15 needy high school students that the company sponsors.     

Speaking at the event, Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi explained that the Airtel spirit provides a platform for employees to volunteer their personal time in support of development initiatives in the communities in Kenya, becoming active participants in making a difference in society.  Mr. El Youssefi also said that the program aims to bring students together to spend quality time with Airtel employees who would serve as role models to them.  

“We are excited to launch the mentorship program and look forward to helping each student interact with our staff, who are experts in different areas positions, share their stories and encourage them to aspire greater heights in education and achieve success in their chosen profession.  As a Corporate that believes in people’s dreams and aspiration, we are confident that the students will learn a lot from the program to achieve their dreams of becoming responsible individuals in the society,” said Mr. El Youssefi.

PUBERTY EDUCATION AMONG PRE-TEENS NEEDS TO GAIN MOMENTUM |

 As the world is gearing up to mark the International Day of the Girl Child this Saturday, it is important that Kenyans take time and celebrate women’s achievement and look at ways to gain momentum in championing women’s equality.

Kenya has made significant momentum in educating the girl child, which has seen more and more girls exposed to the possibilities and opportunities around them. As a result, the country has witnessed lower child mortality rates, better child care, better education outcomes and smaller families.

However, even as we make great strides towards making the Kenyan woman more economical, politically and socially empowered, we must not forget the basics of aspects of womanhood: feminine hygiene education.

This year, the government allocated 300 million shillings ($4million) to the provision of free sanitary towels to girls in schools during the school calendar year. I commend the move and believe that the provision should continue to be coupled with feminine hygiene education on the use of sanitary pads as well as personal hygiene. With the sanitary pad market penetration being at 15 percent, stakeholders need to evaluate how to better create awareness about the use and importance of sanitary pads to young girls.

 

I remember my journey to sensitizing stakeholders in Education on the importance of mainstreaming puberty education and provision of sanitary towels begun in 2007 during stakeholders meetings to discuss best practices on the issue. I am glad that there is light at the tunnel and now the issue of girls missing school is talked not just in quiet but is all over the media.

Even with many organizations starting sanitary pads distribution around the country, one seeks to ask what happens to girls in the rural parts of the country who have never heard of sanitary pads despite them having started their menstrual period. Then one begs to ask, will the 300 million be enough to reach that girl in the rural Kenya?

As Always is a global player on menstrual hygiene, we feel responsible and committed to share our long-lasting experience in puberty and menstrual education- as we have done this since 1956 globally and locally for over 20 years. 

Being a Global player on menstrual hygiene, we feel responsible and committed to share our long-lasting experience in puberty and menstrual education, to democratize our knowledge and make our products available to teenage girls for experiencing them, in line with the overall Always brand purpose of advocating and empowering woman to live life to their fullest potential. This is the reason why we invest in the range of educational programs: providing the experience of our menstrual products is unconceivable without providing the educational necessary background to teenage girls.

As a company, we have taken upon ourselves to complement the Government’s effort by promoting personal hygiene among young girls, to take away the fears among girls during menstruation, to let the girls know clearly about their reproductive system and about the best menstrual protection system. With simple mechanisms such as hiring qualified registered nurses to pass the health education message and providing free sanitary pads samples, Procter & Gamble has been able to reach over 200,000 girls annually.

However our efforts are just a drop in the ocean and to be able reach more girls, more stakeholders in both the public and private sector must join efforts to reach more girls with the feminine and puberty education. It is pointless to arm a girl with a sanitary pad and no education on how to use it or how to take care of her body during her menstrual period.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, more than one in ten school girls skip more than a day when menstruating due to lack of awareness on how to take care of themselves. This is between 10 – 25 percent of their time in school thus creates a disadvantage on them over their boy counterparts. This is a figure we must all strive to eradicate through private public partnerships.

With time, we should have more meaningful International Day of the Girl Child celebrations once small initiatives such as provision of sanitary pad and puberty education to girls have gained national momentum.

As poet Maya Angelou once said, “When you know better you do better.”

Ms Mwathi 

Communications Manager with Procter & Gamble East Africa.

CA TAKES ‘KIKAO KIKUU’ CONSUMER ICT FORUM TO NAKURU

ICT industry regulator, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) held the second Consumer County ICT Forum in Nakuru. 

Dubbed Kikao Kikuu, the event held at Nakuru show ground, brought together consumers of communications services, mobile service providers, ICT equipment vendors, Nakuru County officials as well as other Government departments.

Speaking at the forum, Communications Authority of Kenya, Director General, Francis Wangusi noted, “We are delighted to be in Nakuru County, one of the fastest growing towns in Africa”. He reiterated the fact that ICTs have greatly transformed the way we interact and do business. “It is therefore imperative for us at the Communications Authority of Kenya to work closely with the County Governments in an effort to ensure that counties have access to affordable ICT services ultimately leads to the transformation of lives of the citizenry.”

On his part, Nakuru County Governor, His Excellency Kinuthia Mbugua was happy to host Kikao Kikuu in his County. He noted that the initiative by the Authority will provide consumers with valuable information which will enable them wisely make use of communications services. He highlighted the various ICT initiatives that his County was undertaking, “we are currently in the process of Automating revenue collection by building an electronic platform which will enable Nakuru residents get services wherever they are anytime.” In addition, he noted that they were establishing computer centers in all the sub-counties to facilitate access to ICT services.

The interactive forums will be rolled out in phases across the counties over the next two years. After Nakuru, Kikao Kikuu will move to Nairobi and other counties.

Kikao Kikuu is part of the Authority’s initiatives to increase consumer education in the country.

Procter & Gamble upgrades Pampers brand in Kenya to give babies drier, undisturbed nights of sleep

Many moms describe the sleepless nights they have in their experience of raising their babies, and often a wet diaper is to blame for the sleep disturbance. For this reason, Procter & Gamble has introduced an upgraded Pampers diaper, which keeps baby dry for a whole night of sleep, uninterrupted by wetness.

The upgraded Pampers product will retail at the current price point. It will be available in all sizes and comes with a core containing more absorbent gel material (AGM), which absorbs and locks in wetness, thus keeping it away from the baby’s skin.
Pampers Brand Manager Inem Nsimah said the introduction of the new variant is as a result of research and innovation that sought to offer Kenyan mothers a product that addresses their most important needs.

“The number one need that mothers have expressed concerning a diaper is overnight dryness for their little ones. When babies sleep better, they wake up more active and able to enjoy the day. Mothers have asked for a more absorbent diaper as well as one that is a perfect fit to their babies’ anatomies and this is what we are giving them with the new and improved Pampers ,” said Mrs. Nsimah.

Diapers have to work extra-hard for baby at night-time, as they need to absorb up to 50% more liquid than they do during the day. The new and improved Pampers diaper now has more super gel that absorbs and locks away wetness, keeping babies’ skin drier overnight.
At the 2014 Baby Banda Pregnancy and Baby Fair, mothers were given an opportunity to sample the new product and this is what a few of them had to say:

Bella Makokha: I have tried the new diapers and they are very absorbent and light for the baby’s comfort. They are worth it.

Susan Manosu: I’m grateful for the new pampers n am so happy because they keep my daughter dry all day n all night. Thank you so much

Beth Nyaga:  First, I want to thank you for giving me the honor of being among the first moms to try the new improved pampers size 5. I used it since Friday night and I must say am a happy mum. It does not soak fast and fits my baby who is 16kg perfectly. No more side leaks.

Dr David Githanga, Chairman of the Kenya Paediatric Association (KPA) said that diapers play a vital role in the healthy development of babies through uninterrupted sleep.