The Department of Health and Sanitation has trained adverse events after immunization investigator training trainers (ToTs) at all sub-county management levels. This will improve the detection and reporting of adverse reactions following the administration of vaccines within the county.

The three–day training, conducted in partnership with Path Kenya and the National Vaccine Immunisation Program, was geared towards building capacity of all the Sub-county Medical Officers of Health, Expanded Programme on Immunisation Officers, Pharmacists, Public Health Officers, and Health Records Information Officers.

According to the Director for Preventive and Promotive Health, Dr Bonventure Ameyo, participants will be responsible for overseeing and addressing the reporting gaps in their respective sub-counties.

“With the introduction of new vaccines such as Covid-19, Yellow Fever, and HPV, we need to detect and report adverse events in real-time,” he said.

The Head of the Family Division, Gabriel Lopodo, highlighted that immunization services are a collective responsibility for all healthcare workers as Turkana experiences outbreaks more often.

He pointed out that the fragile health systems of Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan are the main contributors to the outbreaks.

On his part, the County Pharmacist Dr Brian Muyokani said that the next training would focus on the investigation of the adverse events; after improving detection and reporting.