Kisumu County has launched two mobile health applications, one for expectant and new mothers and one for mental health, in what Governor Anyang' Nyong'o described as a push to close the gap between hospitals and the households they serve.

The MamaCare Application and the Kisumu Mental Wellness Application were unveiled by the governor in Kisumu, The Star reported on Thursday. Both were developed by young software developers from Zone01 Kisumu, a coding hub the county government backs.

What the apps will do

MamaCare is designed to stay with a mother after she leaves the clinic. According to the county, the app will:

  • remind mothers of their clinic appointments
  • help them recognise pregnancy danger signs early
  • track the growth of their babies after birth
  • keep them on schedule with childhood immunisation

The Kisumu Mental Wellness Application offers a first point of contact for people who are struggling. It provides screening, basic guidance and referral to trained professionals where needed.

"No mother should be left without the information and support she needs to protect her life," Nyong'o said at the launch.

On mental health, he said the condition had long been ignored and stigmatised, leaving many people to suffer in silence. "Mental health is not a luxury. It is an essential part of human dignity and universal health coverage," he said.

Tools, not replacements

The governor was careful to say the apps are meant to support health workers rather than take their place. He said nurses, clinicians and Community Health Promoters would remain at the centre of care, and warned that a screening done on the mental wellness app is not a medical diagnosis.

He directed the county health department, led by Health executive Gregory Ganda, to make sure the platforms deliver results that can be measured, protect patients' private information and remain useful to residents who do not own smartphones.

"Behind every health statistic is a human life, a family and a community," Nyong'o said.

Building on earlier investment

The launch adds to a wider digital health drive in the county. Kisumu says its public health facilities have been digitised, with their data kept at a county-owned Health Data Centre.

Earlier this month, the Kenya News Agency reported that the county had put Sh600 million into community health, supporting 2,943 Community Health Promoters in 291 community health units equipped with digital reporting gadgets. At the time, Nyong'o said community health workers had referred 71,341 pregnant women to antenatal care between 2021 and 2025, and that maternal deaths in the county had fallen from 495 to 343 per 100,000 live births.

The real test for the new apps will be whether they reach women in rural wards and low-income estates, where smartphone ownership and the cost of data remain a barrier.

Photos: The Star (Governor Nyong'o at the launch); Rajab8 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.