Lodwar – February 18, 2026 (Public Communication and Media Relations)
The County Government is conducting an ongoing capacity-building training for at least 60 healthcare workers, community health officers, security officer, and administrative Chiefs from Turkana West, North, Kibish, Lokichoggio, Loima, and Lokiriama sub-counties to enhance preparedness for Marburg Virus Disease and other viral hemorrhagic fevers.
The training follows reported cases in Jinka, Ethiopia last year, an area with close socio-economic and migratory links to Turkana heightening the risk of cross-border disease transmissions.
The Training of Trainers focused on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), clinical case management, surveillance, risk communication and community engagement to strengthen rapid detection and response systems at sub-county level.
In her opening remarks, Agnes Mana, Chief Officer for Preventive and Promotive Health, noted that pastoral mobility and frequent cross-border movement increase vulnerability to outbreaks, hence the need for heightened preparedness.
She emphasized that healthcare workers remain the first line of defense during epidemics and must be protected to ensure continuity of essential health services.
This workshop was facilitated by the German Epidemic Preparedness Team (SEEG), with experts from GIZ, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the Charité University Medicine Berlin, together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with technical facilitation from the Kenya National Public Health Institute (KNPHI) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (AfricaCDC).
Representing the GIZ Dr. Schnellbach highlighted the importance of the county’ Government’s One Health approach, which promotes collaboration across environment, human and animal health sectors to strengthen surveillance, improve risk communication, and reduce public anxiety during health emergencies.
Dr Kanana from KNPHI also stressed the need for multi-sectoral coordination involving veterinary, water, sanitation and environmental actors, noting that effective health security cannot be achieved by the health sector alone.
Representing IOM’s Chief of Mission, Gerry Mitike reaffirmed IOM’s commitment to supporting the County Government in addressing the health needs of both host and migrant communities, recognizing Turkana County’s unique context of internal and cross-border mobility.
The workshop marks a critical step in reinforcing county’s preparedness framework, building a skilled workforce and coordinated systems capable of preventing, detecting, and responding to emerging public health threats.
