Kenya: Ministry of Health, World Vision and Global Fund train 200 community health committee members in Nakuru

Nakuru — At least 200 community health committee members in Nakuru County have been trained to improve their service delivery capacity.

The Ministry of Health, World Vision Kenya and the Global Fund, in partnership with the administration of Governor Lee Kinyanjui, rolled out the training program whose areas of study included maternal and child health, blood collection methods and techniques data and the prevention and management of infectious diseases.

According to the County Director for Administration and Planning, Dr Benedict Osore, building the capacity of community health committee members from all 11 sub-counties is crucial as they are a critical human resource in the management local health care.

“They play an important role when it comes to improving community health and well-being by providing important links to primary health care services as well as providing basic preventive and health promotion,” Osore said.

He said the training provided by the Ministry of Health, World Vision Kenya and the Global Fund is timely given that the county and the country as a whole are grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic whose prevention and control cannot be effective without properly equipped community health workers.

The community health committee members are in turn expected to pass on the knowledge and skills acquired during the training to the community health volunteers operating in their respective sub-counties.

Other areas covered in the training included resource mobilization, management of county funds and implementation of annual work plans.

The director noted that the training also took into account that the county health department was implementing an accelerated Covid-19 prevention campaign targeting the control of virus transmission at the community level.

He added: “The campaign involves health workers and community health volunteers who travel through villages to educate the public on the need to strictly adhere to all Covid-19 prevention measures and also apply prevention protocols. “.

Osore thanked the national government and organizations for the partnership and support.

As the country prepares to achieve universal health coverage, Osore said community health volunteers play a key role in the program, hence the need to anchor them in appropriate training initiatives.

We will continue to work with our development partners and other stakeholders to ensure that health volunteers are well equipped with the right skills to do their jobs effectively,” Osore pledged.

In July 2020, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe launched the Kenya Community Health Policy 2020-2030. Its goal is to empower individuals, families and communities to achieve the highest attainable standard of health by focusing on strengthening community health services.

Osore added that health workers were also enlightened on how to detect or avoid human rights violations when delivering health services to the community and how to ensure equitable health coverage.

“We have offered training on the unique needs of vulnerable and key populations, for example, people living with HIV and pregnant women. It is important that health workers understand their experiences and how to treat these people with courtesy,” did he declare. added.

It was essential, he observed, to train community health workers on how to reduce stigma and discrimination of terminally ill patients and to ensure that health care providers respect medical ethics. as part of their duties.

“They were also made aware of their rights and how to protect themselves while securing their work environment,” Osore said.

World Vision Kenya Project Officer for the Global TB Fund, Ms. Emily Lemanton, said the Covid-19 pandemic and severe acute malnutrition have highlighted the urgent need to build health resilience at the community level.

She said the plague posed a threat to families and local communities, causing public health concerns.

In her remarks, the county’s Community Health Strategy Focal Person, Ritah Ochola, noted that while new infections have been minimal lately, the county urged all residents to continue to observe infection prevention measures. established, such as wearing face masks correctly whenever in public, washing hands regularly, and practicing social distancing.

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