Residents of remote villages in calamity prone Tana Delta Sub County, Tana River County have expressed joy after the Tana River County government in collaboration with stakeholders launched medical outreach programs in the area.
At least 9,000 residents drawn from Kibokoni, Buramoyo, Darga, Odarda, Mbebezoni and Shirikisho villages have been saved the agony of travelling long distances to seek medical services.
The most beneficiaries are expectant women and children who enjoy services such as immunization, pre and ante natal care among others in the open air medical camps at Shirikisho village.
According to Salma Wadhe, previously residents had to travel long distances to the nearest health dispensary at Semikaro which is seven kilometers away.
The seven villages are located in a flood prone area with a poor road network which adds to the problems they face and this forced the County government to seek help from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Kenya Red Cross to equip outreach clinics with essential medicines and other medical services including health education.
“We are grateful of the benefits of the medical outreaches since we are now enlightened. The support from UNICEF and the Kenya Red Cross in conjunction with the County government have really improved health matters in our area,” said Wadhe adding that many expectant women were currently being attended to as opposed to previous times.
She added that they have been educated on many health matters including importance of immunization, pre and ante natal care, sanitation and proper feeding habits and hygiene.
“The challenge we now face is a lack of a dignified place for women to give birth and we have to travel more than seven kilometers to Semikaro area. Many women give birth while on transit to Semikaro and so if we get a health facility here then we will really appreciate,” she added.
Her sentiments were echoed by Mr Makorani Malonji, the area headman who said that the hygiene, sanitation and health of resident had improved for the better after the commencement of the medical outreach programs.
The nursing officer at the Semikaro dispensary Simon Kaviha said that Shirikisho village was chosen to host the bi weekly medical outreach sessions due to its central place among the seven villages adding that Semikaro was very far especially when the bad road network is factored.
“For now we can say that actually this outreaches have really assisted us in terms of even improving our indicators especially on immunization and again it has helped us to do some defaulter tracing. We chose Shrikisho because it is a difficult area to access and since we started the program, cases of pregnancy complications and related deaths have gone down,” he said.
He added that the Semikaro dispensary is supposed to serve 9,131 residents of seven villages but the distance between the villages and the dispensary was making it out of reach for many.
Mrs Bibi Mbete who is a health officer with UNICEF Kenya said that more than 1,000 households were benefiting from the program that is poised to expand to other areas of Tana Delta and which was being sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
“We have come together to offer a set of integrated services that include immunization services for children under the age of five year and pregnant women, ANC services for pregnant women and treatment of minor ailments that occur on a day to day basis but more so during drought and floods periods,” she said.
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