Lodwar, 4th Oct 2024 (Public Communications and Media Relations)

A three-day health forum in Turkana concluded with the establishment of a new partnership and donor coordination approach aimed at integrating nutrition, health, and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) service delivery across the county. 

The forum, which brought together health partners and key stakeholders, developed a strategy for a comprehensive partner mapping and execution of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) undertakings.

This will be a big boost to the measure of health partners’ performance and improve coordination within county health partnerships. 

Speaking at the forum, the County Executive for Health and Sanitation Longole Wangiros emphasized the importance of collaboration in developing an effective framework to streamline healthcare efforts in the county.  

“We need to identify priority areas in terms of infrastructure and software to tackle key health challenges,” Wangiros said. “We also aim to decentralize ambulances to all sub-counties to improve responses to medical emergencies and referral cases.” 

Wangiros urged the partners to share experiences and best practices to enhance project/program implementation. 

The county executive further referred to remarks made earlier by the Deputy Governor, Dr John Erus, during the forum’s opening, stressing the need for partners to work closely with the Ministry of Health to establish a Geographical Information System (GIS) map. 

The GIS tool will support the department in developing social protection and emergency response programs to improve healthcare delivery and respond swiftly to public health emergencies. 

The Health Partnerships Coordinator Nancy reiterated the importance of addressing gaps in health service delivery, particularly concerning maternal and infant mortality caused by delayed referrals. 

She advocated for strengthening the capacity of sub-county health officers to handle these challenges more effectively. 

The forum equally provides a platform for deliberations with partners proposing new programs.