Primary care pediatrics as a tool for international cooperation: Experience from a project in Kenya

Pediatric primary care encompasses a series of principles that can be useful in international health cooperation. Among these principles, accessibility, longitudinality, comprehensiveness, and a community-based approach stand out. The objective of this paper is to describe the experience of a pediatric cooperation project developed in the Mukuru slum (Nairobi, Kenya) and to reflect on the usefulness of these principles in vulnerable environments.

This article describes the organizational characteristics of the project at the Pediatric and Maternal Unit of Mary Immaculate Clinic in Mukuru, its clinical activity, the community and training strategies implemented, as well as the activity statistics for year 2025. The analysis of the specific characteristics of this project shows how the application of these principles of pediatric primary care has led to favorable health care outcomes, although not without difficulties, which are also discussed.

The concrete experience of this project suggests that the field of pediatric primary care can be effectively involved in international cooperation plans, contributing to the sustainable strengthening of pediatric care in areas of high socioeconomic vulnerability.