Kakuma – 4th September 2024 (Public Communications and Media Relations)

In a bid to eliminate trachoma in Turkana, community health promoters in the Turkana West Sub-county have been equipped with skills for screening Trachoma eye disease as part of routine visits during their household visits.

Turkana West currently has the highest prevalence of trachoma, which stands at 11.5%. This exceeds the WHO threshold of 5%, which demonstrates a country/area to be considered free of trachoma.

The neglected tropical disease, if left untreated could lead to blindness.

During a field visit to Kakuma, Samson Lokele – County Ophthalmic Services Coordinator, accompanied by Michela Kelly – Senior Programme Director for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) at Sightsavers, highlighted the importance of community health promoters (CHPs) CHPs in the elimination of trachoma.

According to Lokele, the CHPs were already familiar with trachoma, having participated in multiple mass drug administration (MDA) programs over the years. However, this was their first intensive training focused specifically on screening the eye disease to enable corrective interventions.

“We want them to routinely screen for trachoma during their routine household level visits and, identify the last few cases of trachoma and those missed cases,” Lokele said.

The sightsavers official concurred that the important role CHPs play in eliminating trachoma and expressed her satisfaction that they were utilizing technology in their efforts.

She also acknowledged the unique challenge posed by the sub-county’s proximity to South Sudan, where trachoma cases are also prevalent; Sightsavers runs a similar program there.

One of the CHPs, Margaret Ekal from Napadal Central 1 Village, shared that previously, she only screened for trachoma during MDAs and was usually accompanied by a county health worker.

She said the training would now enable her to conduct screenings independently and refer patients to the eye clinic at Kakuma Sub-county Hospital.

Joseph Lokomar, a 46-year-old resident of Andak 2 Village who was recently screened, expressed relief after learning he did not have trachoma.

The team also held a brief meeting with the International Rescue Committee Kakuma team to discuss the modalities of screening new refugee arrivals. The two organizations had previously collaborated on MDA exercises.