The January 30, 2024 (Public Communication and Media Relations)

The County Government aims to implement the One Health approach to bring government services to the nomadic pastoralists particularly those residing along the borders of Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

These pastoralists live beyond the reach of established government services such as health, veterinary, and administrative support. As such, the county government and its partners initiated the One Health initiative known as Kimormor.

In addition to providing human, animal, and environmental health services, Kimormor includes National Government registration services such as identity card (ID), birth certificate, and Social Health Insurance Fund (formerly NHIF) registration.

While officially launching the current edition of the One Health outreach in Loreng – Turkana West Sub-county, the County Executive for Health and Sanitation, Dr Francis Mariao highlighted that the One Health approach enables essential government services to become mobile, addressing the unique challenges faced by the nomadic pastoralist population.

“Kimormor is a resource-intensive strategy; therefore, the county government seeks support from the national government and its partners to effectively reach this population,” he said.

He also added that he was representing other county executives for water, veterinary, and environment as One Health is domiciled in all four departments including health.

The Country Director of Welthungerhilfe Kenya (WHH Kenya), Christian Schniepper visited the outreach and appreciated the teams on the ground for exemplary work in providing the different services.

“As Welthungerhilfe, we want to fight food insecurity in the region, and we appreciate being a part of the One Health approach for nutritional purposes,” he said.

Chief Officer for Medical Services, Dr Gilchrist Lokoel, pointed out the challenge of providing healthcare to populations like nomadic pastoralists as highly mobile and looking for water and pasture for their livestock.

“The unique opportunity that the One Health approach, or Kimormor, offers in delivering a range of services, including nutrition, immunisation, particularly for children with zero doses, and primary healthcare,” he said.

As the Head of Office in Turkana for WHH Kenya, Phillip Ewoton said the One Health approach had a wider reach as children get immunised, and supported with nutritional and medical treatment.

“With the civil registration, they can have access to government services, birth certificate for school registration, and cash transfers made possible with the identity cards,” he said.

In the upcoming days, the outreach team will be Lomeguro of Nakalale Ward (Turkana North) and Ingichel of Nanam Ward (Lokichoggio).

Other partner organisations include USAID Imarisha Jamii, USAID NAWIRI, International Rescue Committee Core Group Partners’ Project, World Vision Kenya, World Relief Kenya, and Kenya Red Cross.