Community health strategy (CHS) is an important driver that will assist the county to deliver high quality healthcare services at community level said Peter Lomorukia, Chief Officer of Preventive and Promotive Health.
Speaking during a CHS sensitisation workshop, the chief officer (CO) reminded the participants that CHS was part of the Governor’s health agenda, therefore the department was mandated to ensure that the community was indeed empowered to own its health.
The three-day workshop, supported by USAID Nawiri, was attended by Turkana Central Sub-county community health assistants (CHAs) and officers (CHOs) and facility in-charges. According to CHS, these officers are the link between community health volunteers (CHVs) and health facilities.
“This workshop has been key in bridging the gaps in capacity and now I expect you [participants] to perform,” said CO Lomorukai.
He further added that the achievement of the Universal Healthcare (UHC) implementation is anchored on delivering the community health strategy (CHS).
Gabriel Lopodo, Deputy Director of Family Health, stated that a well-functioning community health unit would post better health indicators such as maternal, neonatal, community-led total sanitation and defaulter tracing.
“The effectiveness of the community health unit is dependent on a skilled and motivated community health assistant or officer who mentors for the CHVs,” he said.
Jonathan Longiti, County CHS Coordinator, emphasized that the participants should understand the CHV reporting tools, build the capacity of the CHVs and ensure that their data is entered into Kenya Health Information System (KHIS).
Ruth Areman, County Health Promotion Officer, urged the participants to promote the uptake of HPV vaccine and increase 4th ante-natal care (ANC) visits.
The Turkana Central Sub-county Medical Officer of Health, Amos Ewoi, instructed the officers to be in their workstations and to implement what they had learnt in the workshop. While Aysha Kayegeri, Advocacy and Policy Advisor – USAID Nawiri, called upon the participants to advocate for CHS in their communities and to policy makers.
