Nairobi, Kenya – In the outskirts of Nairobi is the sprawling Kangemi informal settlements. The slum is bustling with people; some cooking outside their shacks, others burning charcoal to sell or busying themselves with their food stalls. The sky is overcast and the air is cold. At the hall hired for the day’s outreach, bedsheets serve as makeshift partitions. This outreach is unique: Here, for the first time in Kenya, eligible clients will have access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Several days a week, Isabelle Marie Kouame, a community health worker (CHW) in rural Dimbokro, Côte D’Ivoire, makes home visits to clients in her small town. When she arrived at the door of a 40-year-old mechanic, Isabelle pulled out her phone and tapped the CommCare application. This mobile technology helps CHWs to identify and track next steps for their clients.
A nurse’s callousness motivated Emmah Kariuki to pursue a compassionate, intrepid style of nursing that has earned her recognition as one of 13 “Heroines of Health” at this year’s World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva.
