Over 500 Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) in Isiolo County have benefited from medical kits donated by the Catholic Relief Service (CRS) to help them provide better services to local residents. The health volunteers play a significant part in promoting primary health care which involves activities aimed at prevention of diseases as well as identifying infection outbreaks and referring patients to the nearest health facilities. Receiving the donation, Chief Officer for Public Health Mr. Bisharo Hassan said CHVs in their normal duties visit homes to deliver health promotion messages, treat common illnesses and also establish protocols for maternal and newborn health at the community level. The non-governmental organization, ‘Concern Worldwide’ County Representative Mr. Hassan Olow, said that the support given to the CHVs will ensure the people living in the remote areas where there are inadequate healthcare providers, receive care and avoid travelling for over 10 kilometers in search of services. ‘Our aim is to ensure the CHVs who have been playing a crucial role in the community receive sufficient and appropriate medical tools that will help them deliver good and immediate response to health issues,’ Olow said. He further called upon the devolved government and especially the County Assembly to ensure they enact laws to ease implementation of the CHVs activities to improve performance of their duties. The kits will serve residents of Garbatulla, Sericho, Ngaremara, Oldonyiro, Cherab and Chari Wards where the CHVs lack adequate kits for effective services. The donation comprised 500 aprons for CHV identification purposes, 600 bags for carrying medical tools, cups and spoons for demonstration during home visits, 900 copies of Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) tools, and copies of community health system act, copies of household registers, referral forms and checklists for community health. Isiolo Chief Officer for Medical Services Mr. Abdirahman Ibrahim said that the donation would greatly uplift the primary healthcare in the county with the CHVs having received enough medical kits. Ibrahim also appealed to other donors to partner with the health sector in order to strengthen the healthcare systems in the area saying that the current status could not satisfy the County’s large population. The Catholic Relief Services in partnership with other non-governmental organizations through the Nawiri program which has been serving residents for the past five years has been committed to strengthening the community health systems through donating of the kits to remote areas and also provision of other kinds of healthiness support.
Source: Kenya News Agency