Lokichar/Kalapata- June 6, 2025 (Public Communication and Media Relations)
In efforts to ensure access and continuity of health services, hard-to-reach communities in Lokichar and Kalapata Wards had access to free human and animal health medical services as part of county intervention to promote healthcare services in remote areas. The benefiting population came from Kang’ing’olemongin, Natorobei, Kakura (Napusmoru), Chokchok, Kakiria (Nakaalei), Nalamaru, Kaaling’a (Katiir) villages.
The three-day supervision implemented by the County’s Department for Health and Sanitation in collaboration with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) also provided social protection services as part of the Integrated Emergency Drought Response Outreach (IEDRO) program in Turkana South.
During the activity, children got immunised, mothers received post antenatal care, and the community was sensitized through Social Behavorial Change Communication models to influence health seeking behavior. The households were also provided with nutrition supplements for children under the age of five.
Addressing the community, Deputy Director for Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Partnership Coordination- Sarah Esinyen mentioned that the county has allocated a budget for essential medical commodities to ensure sustained support for the community outreaches to enhance healthcare services.
“We have integrated our support along with the partners to ensure seamless running of outreaches, with the county providing essential medical commodities in health facilities including those in the hard-to-reach locations,” she said.
The County One Health Coordinator Robert Rotich acknowledged the immense support from partners, observing that there is an uptake of healthcare services due to behavioural change sensitization.
“The county intends to scale up and integrate outreach services to enhance coverage of both human and animal health aspects,” he said.
Deputy Director of Veterinary Services Dr Erenius Nakadio reported that the team attended to the livestock seeing to it that they are vaccinated and treated while also engaging with the herders to outline challenges in order for the County Government to address them effectively.
“We are working to empower our community Health Promoters and Community Animal Disease Reporters to make sure that the needed services have been delivered to the community,” he said.
Dr Nakadio also mentioned that over the last month, the county in conjunction with TUPADO managed to attend to over 10,000 livestock through vaccination and treatment.
Olivia Simiyu, Nutrition Officer at IRC articulated that the team had offered services such as the treatment of minor ailments to both children under and above the age of five along with the provision of Non-Food Items such as water purifiers and soap disinfectants to enhance Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) efforts.
“We are also working with the county WASH sector to ensure that there is environmental and personal cleanliness in the community to support these outreaches,” she said.
The community was also engaged on WASH-related diseases in order to curb the spread of Cholera, Typhoid and Trachoma through contamination.
The Sub-County Medical Officer for Health John Ng’asike outlined that the vast area of Kalapata Ward has been declared open defecation free due to wide latrine coverage incorporated with simple handwashing points. This indicates the community willingness through sensitization to participate in life-sustaining WASH approaches.
In a bid to collect feedback, the county monitoring team with the partners also engaged community elders as they advocated for areas of strengthening, including cash transfers and livestock restocking as well as curbing the prevalence of PPR, a common livestock disease that has plagued the area over the years.
More services were offered including the prevention of mother-to-child infections, blood typing, random blood sugar tests, urinalysis, and psychosocial sensitization on stress management.
The team comprised the County and Sub- County Health Management Teams, Public Health Officers, Facility-in-Charges, Community Health Workers, Veterinary, Social Protection, and Social Development teams.
