LVCT Health Launches New Brand, Expands Social Enterprise Amid Donor Funding Cuts

Story by Evans Mutinda.

LVCT Health has unveiled a new corporate brand and expanded its social enterprise model as the organisation seeks to diversify its funding sources and sustain the delivery of healthcare services amid declining donor support.
The organisation said the rebranding reflects its evolution from a provider primarily associated with HIV testing, prevention and treatment to a broader health organisation addressing maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and mental health.
Speaking during the launch, LVCT Health Executive Director Dr. Lilian Otiso said the new identity builds on the organisation’s longstanding reputation while communicating the expanded range of services it provides to vulnerable and marginalised communities.
Otiso said the organisation was also positioning itself as a data-driven health institution, using its research, evidence, intellectual property and technical expertise to develop solutions that can reach more people across Kenya and the wider African continent.
“We are seeing ourselves as a data-enabled health organisation that is on course to deliver services to over 30 million people in Kenya and beyond in Africa by 2030,” she said.
The rebranding comes as the organisation pursues a new strategy to reduce its dependence on grants and explore alternative sources of income through commercial services and partnerships.
Social enterprise to diversify revenue
LVCT Health officials said the social enterprise model is intended to turn the organisation’s experience, research findings and technical capabilities into market-facing products and services while maintaining its public health mission.
Lilian said, the organisation had previously relied heavily on external donor funding, with more than 90 per cent of its funding historically coming from the United States government, according to her remarks.
She said the organisation had recognised the risks associated with relying on a single major funder and had begun exploring diversification before the latest funding disruptions.
The organisation launched a new strategy in 2022 that included expanding beyond Kenya, broadening its health programmes beyond HIV and pursuing additional funding sources.
Otiso said the social enterprise was established in January to explore how LVCT Health could generate income from its existing assets, skilled workforce, data and accumulated knowledge.
“We are trying to see, with all the evidence we have collected, all the data we have and the programme capacity we have, what we can develop and whether people can pay for it,” she said.
She acknowledged that the model was still evolving, with the organisation learning from both successful and unsuccessful initiatives.
The social enterprise comprises several service areas, including professional training, workplace wellness, safeguarding, environmental, social and governance (ESG) support, research and evaluation, and digital health innovation.
Its training institute offers short courses and longer-term diploma programmes in health-related fields. The organisation said the institute is accredited by the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) authorities and the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA).
Through its workplace wellness services, LVCT Health provides training and support in areas including HIV, non-communicable diseases and mental health. It also offers workplace safeguarding services designed to help organisations prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse.
The organisation is also seeking partnerships with companies that require support in implementing corporate social responsibility initiatives and other social-impact programmes.
LVCT Health said its presence in more than 36 counties gives it a platform to support businesses seeking to implement community-based interventions.
Its research and evaluation services will draw on the organisation’s experience in public health research, while its digital innovation work will focus on developing and deploying tools in collaboration with funders, partners and other clients.
HIV remains a core priority
Despite expanding into other areas, LVCT Health said HIV prevention, testing and treatment remain central to its work.
Otiso said the organisation continues to implement HIV programmes, including interventions targeting young people and other populations considered at higher risk.
She said LVCT Health was still receiving United States government funding for what she described as lifesaving interventions, including HIV testing, treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission.
The organisation is also working with government partners on new prevention technologies, including injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Otiso said LVCT Health intends to increasingly support county governments to take greater responsibility for delivering health services, while the organisation shifts towards providing technical assistance, innovation and community mobilisation.
She added that expanding into other health areas had been informed by the organisation’s experience working with people living with HIV, who also face other health and social challenges.
According to Otiso, the organisation believes its established community networks and skilled health workforce can support a wider range of interventions, particularly for underserved populations.
Partnerships key to sustaining healthcare services
The Kenya Healthcare Federation welcomed LVCT Health’s move towards a social enterprise model, describing partnerships between government, the private sector, academia, civil society and development partners as essential to sustaining healthcare delivery.
A federation representative said the reduction in international development funding had underscored the need for local organisations to explore alternative ways of financing essential services.
The representative said the federation was ready to facilitate partnerships between LVCT Health and private-sector members to support research, mental health services and other public health interventions.
LVCT Health officials also called on Kenyan businesses, philanthropic organisations, government agencies and other partners to invest in locally developed solutions.
They said local organisations were well placed to understand community needs and develop interventions that respond to the specific challenges facing different populations.
The organisation emphasised the importance of involving communities in designing health programmes, arguing that participation improves the acceptability and relevance of interventions.
Maternal health challenges persist
LVCT Health also highlighted persistent challenges in maternal and child health, including access to antenatal care, shortages of essential commodities, financial barriers and weaknesses in healthcare systems.
An LVCT Health programme director said Kenya continued to face significant maternal mortality challenges, requiring coordinated action by government, healthcare providers and development partners.
The official said the organisation had supported community-based interventions encouraging pregnant women to attend antenatal care appointments and seek skilled healthcare services.
According to figures cited during the briefing, more than 78 per cent of women attend antenatal care, but the proportion completing the recommended eight contacts remains below 20 per cent.
The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of eight antenatal care contacts during pregnancy to help reduce perinatal mortality and improve women’s experiences of care.
LVCT Health said its interventions, including working with community health workers to encourage and accompany women to facilities, had helped improve attendance in some project areas.
The organisation also cited improvements in antenatal care attendance in programmes where it had worked with local communities, although the specific studies, locations and measurement periods were not detailed during the briefing.
The programme director identified healthcare worker strikes, transport difficulties, poor road access and emergencies caused by extreme weather as factors that can prevent pregnant women from reaching health facilities in time.
She said LVCT Health was working with county governments to strengthen systems for identifying women at risk, tracking access barriers and improving emergency response arrangements.
The organisation also highlighted maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response meetings as an important mechanism for reviewing deaths and identifying gaps in healthcare delivery.
LVCT Health said it would continue collaborating with government and other partners to strengthen health systems, expand access to services and ensure that vulnerable communities are not left behind as the organisation diversifies its funding model.
The organisation said its long-term goal was to combine its nonprofit work with commercially sustainable services that generate revenue while advancing public health outcomes.