News Categories: Health and Sanitation

The CEC Member for Health and Sanitation Ruth Koech has pleaded with parents to ensure their children were vaccinated regularly.

“Vaccine refusal endangers everyone, not just the unvaccinated children. Thus, you must prioritise the health and wellbeing of your kids by taking them to the nearest clinic or healthcare provider to ensure that are up-to-date with vaccination,” she said.

She was speaking during an unscheduled visit to Biribiriet, Lelmokwo, Sigot, SDA Kaikat, Cheptil, Kabiemit dispesaries and Chepterwai Nyayo Hospital.

Children below the age of five years are particularly vulnerable to diseases as their immunity is not yet fully developed to fight infections.

The CEC Member also called on parents to accompany their sick children to hospital who are seeking medication. “Parents should take responsibility and accompany their young children while seeking medication. They should be there to give consent and know what’s ailing their children,” she noted.

Cancer patients in Nandi are getting a supporting hand with the launch of Nandi Cancer Survivors Support Group at an event presided over by H. E the Deputy Governor Dr Yulita Cheruiyot.

The Cancer Survivors Support Group was formed by a group of 120 cancer survivors in the county with the support from the County Department of Health through the Kapsabet County Referral Hospital Oncology Unit.

The support group will serve as a welcoming space for cancer patients and survivors in the county, enabling them to engage in a close-knit community, where individuals share their personal experiences.

According to the group, cancer patients and survivors often face cognitive and emotional decline. They experience lack of attention, slow processing speed, memory dysfunctions, loneliness, anxiety and distress among other things. These deficits have a substantial impact on their well-being and quality of life.

The support group will be a platform that will provide patients and survivors with the opportunity to get moral support from people who are actually going through the same situation, or people who have great knowledge and experience in providing emotional and psychological support.

This group aims to instil persistence and hope in breast cancer patients, while providing them with all types of assistance needed. Group members will be able to set and edit goals as a means of coping with their difficulties.

The aim of the group is to educate its patients. The support group will correct misconceptions and myths about cancer and cancer-related treatments that could cause confusion. It acts as a hub for fact-checking, demystifying incorrect messages, and explaining the truth.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Governor Dr Yulita Cheruiyot said “As a county government, we are committed to enhancing access to cancer screenings and treatments for our residents. While we strive to bring these services closer, we also encourage our residents to utilize the oncology center at Kapsabet County Referral Hospital for comprehensive care and specialized treatment options.”

“Together, we celebrate life, inspire hope, and reaffirm that no one has to face cancer alone,” she added.

Stressing on the importance of the Cancer Support Group, the CEC Member for Health and Sanitation Ruth Koech said, “Cancer diagnosis and treatment is an overwhelming process for the patients and their loved ones. The treatment of cancer is a journey right from the diagnosis to treatment and even after survival. Hence, this cancer support group is extremely helpful for patients to get motivated and inspired every step of the way. With this support group, we aim to combat cancer jointly by encouraging the patient and their families, and friends to be courageous and positive during the treatment process. At Kapsabet Oncology, we are committed to offering best clinical expertise, and service excellence for our patients in the County.”

Present at the event were the head Kapsabet Oncology Unit Patrick Kenei, Cancer Survivors and patients, among other senior department of health officials.

The 21st Health Sector Intergovernmental Consultative Forum was held at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi.

Presiding over the Forum, Principal Secretary State Department for Public Health & Professional Standards Mary Muthoni emphasized the forum’s importance in fostering collaboration and communication across different government levels and with partners.

The forum brought together stakeholders from National and County Health Departments, development partners, implementation partners, and the private sector to address key health sector challenges.

Speaking during the forum, the Acting Chairperson for Health CECMs caucus Ruth Koech noted that the forum presented a significant step towards achieving UHC, ensuring equitable and accessible health services across the country.

“Let us leverage this moment of unparalleled opportunity to forge a moreintegrated, responsive, and equitable health system. By addressing these critical issuescollaboratively, we can transform our healthcare landscape for the better,” said Ruth.

Key topics discussed included intergovernmental health issues, sharing best practices in health service delivery, and providing updates on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Discussions focused on policy alignment and innovative health solutions to enhance nationwide health services.

Community health services, among other primary health care (PHC) services, are the fastest way to achieve universal health coverage (UHC).

And since CHPs typically reside in the community they serve, they have the unique ability to bring information where it is needed most. They can reach community residents where they live, eat, play, work, and worship. CHPs are frontline agents of change, helping to reduce health disparities in underserved communities.

It is against this backdrop that, the County Government of Nandi with support from Amref Health Africa has implemented transformational initiatives to enhance the quality of community health services dubbed Afya Nyumbani.

The services, delivered by CHPs, ensure that every citizen receives quality healthcare, particularly those in remote and underserved areas. And true to their work, CHPs are powering Afya Nyumbani in Nandi County!

To support this transformational change, 279 CHPs are undergoing a 10 days training that begun on June 11,2024 in nine training sites including Sterling Hotel in Kapsabet, AIC Kapkeruge in Kilibwoni Ward, PAG Kaptumo Church, Orthodox Serem Church, Kabiyet Social Hall, Big Fries Hotel in Mosoriot, 2 sites at Tea Planters Inn in Nandi Hills and AIC Lelgotet Church in Tinderet Sub County.

The training seeks to empower the CHPs with basic knowledge, skills and competencies in healthcare services and enable them function effectively in the community.

While addressing the CHPs in Nandi Hills, the CEC Member for Health and Sanitation Ruth Koech noted that the role of CHPs extends beyond prevention since it includes early detection and referral to higher-level health facilities when necessary adding that they play a crucial part in addressing health inequalities by bringing essential health services closer to the people, especially those in rural and informal areas.

She underscored the importance of primary healthcare as vital for achieving Universal Health Coverage saying that the county government of Nandi is putting more emphasis on preventive rather than curative care, which she observed was unaffordable for many households.

Closer integration of HIV and other relevant health services has the potential to increase the reach and uptake of services, enhance efficiency, be cost-effective, make services more people-centred and improve their quality. Integrated services can better satisfy the intersecting health care needs of people than traditional, separated delivery models.

The County Government of Nandi seeks to integrate its healthcare services to include HIV care. This was revealed during the HIV Service Delivery Integration Summit that opened Tuesday in Mombasa with a focus on strengthening Kenya’s response to HIV/AIDS through enhanced collaboration and innovative strategies.

The summit, attended by CEC Member for Health and Sanitation Ruth Koech, County Director for Health Dr David Bungei and the CASCO Coordinator Richard Bwaley and brought together professionals and policymakers, aims to align Kenya’s HIV response with broader healthcare reforms, including Universal Health CoverageCoverage was presided over by the Health CS Susan Nakhumicha.

The county integration domains or levels begun with the absorption of program staff into the county payroll.

Systems linkages to establish unified support systems that facilitate and enable delivery of integrated services. Linked systems include health worker education and training, procurement and supply chain management, pharmacy and laboratory services, health management information and client management systems, and integrated budgeting. This can enhance coordination and support more streamlined and efficient services.

Service integration that range from linking certain services or adding them to specialized platforms, to fully integrating services in one location (one-stop shops).

Multifacility integration to involve networking health facilities and other service providers so that people with chronic illnesses like hypertension, diabetes, can conveniently access specialist care.

The Principal Secretary for the State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards, Mary Muthoni, visited the county to assess the progress of the Community Health Promoters (CHPs) program.

So far, the CHPs in Nandi have registered 116,767 households translating to a population of 440,419. They have assessed 24,500 people for diabetes and referred 397 for further management. A further 16,900 have been assessed for hypertension and 1,110 have been referred.

Currently, a total of 279 CHPs are undergoing a 10 days training to enhance their knowledge and skills that meet the healthcare needs of the Nandi residents.

Speaking to CHPs at their training site at AIC Kapkeruge in Kilibwoni Ward, Emgwen Sub County, PS Muthoni said that the government is committed to empowering our Community Health Promoters with the necessary skills and knowledge to ensure they can provide high-quality healthcare at the grassroots level.

“Our goal is to create a robust network of well-trained health workers who can meet the healthcare needs of every community,” she noted.

Through this initiative, the ministry aims to empower CHPs to provide better healthcare access and improve overall health outcomes at the grassroots level. “By building this network, we are ensuring that quality healthcare services reach every corner of the country,” Muthoni emphasized.

This program is a testament to our dedication to improving the health and well-being of all our citizens.

The visit highlighted the significant strides being made in the CHPs program and underscored the ministry’s ongoing efforts to bolster community health services nationwide.

Present at the event were the CEC Member for Health and Sanitation Ruth Koech, Chief Officer for Health Fredrick Kiptum among other senior ministry of health officials.

Grief and bereavement are universal experiences that people go through when they are dealing with a loss in their lives. In end-of-life care, nurses must understand the fundamentals about grief, loss, and bereavement on the part of patients and families, and also within themselves. Individuals each express and cope with losses differently and a nurse should expect to see that when working with patients and families at the end of life.

And when a baby dies from miscarriage, stillbirth, or after birth, families experience grief. How medical professionals respond during this vulnerable time will affect families for the rest of their lives. Appropriate guidance from caregivers can help start the healing process. Medical professionals themselves need guidance in just how to walk families through this journey. They also need to learn how to manage their own feelings to maintain their personal resilience.

Caring for bereaved families can be demanding and draining for nurses and other healthcare professionals. They need training and support to know the right things to say and do. They also need education about how to take care of themselves in these complex situations. A perinatal bereavement training program is a valuable asset to the county government of Nandi healthcare workforce.

Thus the County Government of Nandi in partnership with Kenya Aids Vaccine Initiatives (KAVI-UoN), National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) have joined hands to offer the advanced perinatal bereavement training for the healthcare workforce. Today, the second cohort of healthcare professionals underwent the training to prepares them to provide support to bereaved families.

A unique traumatic life event, perinatal loss requires a specialized approach to care.

All the losses have magnified the universal need for bereavement education – in nursing school and beyond. Caring for patients doesn’t stop at the end of life.

The psychological outcomes for many parents who experience perinatal loss depend on nursing staff’s ability to provide effective bereavement support. However, most nurses and midwives lack the ability to provide bereavement care and suffer from heavy emotional burden.

Perinatal bereavement is a healthcare problem that may cause serious psychological problems to bereaved women and their families. Depression, anxiety, feelings of failure, guilt, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal ideation are commonly seen among bereaved parents.

Perinatal loss is associated with negative pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriage, therapeutic abortion, stillbirth and neonatal death.

Beareved parents depend on a healthcare professionals’ ability to provide effective bereavement support.

In view of the above, the County Government of Nandi in partnership with Kenya Aids Vaccine Initiatives (KAVI-UoN), National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) held a bereavement care training in Kapsabet for nurses from across the six sub counties. The training programme is intended to assist nurses and midwives in improving their confidence and ability to provide perinatal bereavement care and to relieve the symptoms of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and emotional exhaustion (EE) in the context of bereavement practice.

The objective of the training is to improve the perinatal bereavement care knowledge and skills of nurses and midwives to enhance their confidence and ability to provide perinatal bereavement care and to relieve the heavy emotional burden of nursing professionals and improve their psychological well-being, which is an important guarantee to high-quality perinatal bereavement care services.

Nurses frequently provide solace to patients and their families during times of bereavement, offering a supportive presence and lending a listening ear. Moreover, nurses are instrumental in delivering end-of-life care, ensuring patients’ comfort in their final moments. Collaborating with healthcare members, they attend to not just the physical aspects of pain management but also the emotional and spiritual facets of the end-of-life experience. Nursing’s role in easing grief and navigating loss is fundamental, underscoring the profession’s dedication to holistic, compassionate care.

Biomedical engineers (BMEs) play a critical role in healthcare provision, especially in ensuring the hospitals can provide lifesaving medical oxygen supplies to the patients who need it most at all times. They are responsible for repairing and maintaining a range of medical apparatus, including oxygen plants and equipment, ensuring that nurses and doctors have the equipments they need and when they need them, to effectively provide care for all patients. Nandi County has two oxygen plants stationed at Kapsabet and Nandi Hills.

Hence, the maintenance of the equipments is a key role of the BMEs. The main areas where oxygen is used in the hospital include; Intensive Care Units (ICU), theatres, wards, ambulances and home care. The Department of Health continues to equip its staff with the necessary skills to conduct their work effectively.

The BMEs has for the last four days undergone capacity building and training with Jhpiego(Rise Adhoc Program) a USAID funded organisation and oxygen experts that saw twenty Biomedical engineers drawn from Kapsabet County Referral Hospital and NandiHills SubCounty Hospital. The training aims at embracing sustainability to curb dependance and the engineers being able to carry out maintenance of the plants as per manufacturers schedule.

“We need to ensure science comes to reality in order to make the experts skillful and knowledgeable. Our mandate is to ensure oxygen is available to all patience at all times.” Said Engineer Thaddeus Ogutu, who’s an oxygen expert and a consultant having worked with WHO and HEWA TELE.

County BioMed Engineer Isaiah Kibuge, attending the training mentioned that they strive to ensure that health workers will never have to choose which life to save especially because of limited Oxygen supply. “We have installed backup systems in place to make certain that we do not interrupt the patients oxygen flow in our facilities.” he reiterated.

The intensive training handled the principles of operation of oxygen generators and refilling units. “We train the BioMeds to make them technically endowed with information so that they can train other young BioMeds and cascade down to young engineers for the continuity of information and knowledge for practise” Said Evelyn Muringo from Jhpiego.

The workshop was carried out and included site visits to the oxygen production facilities, practical sessions on equipment management and repair.

Nandi residents have been urged to go for regular medical checkups to avoid late diagnosis of diseases.

Speaking during Joyful Women Organization – Mama Doing Good event in Maraba, Tindiret Sub County, county Health executive Ruth Koech said many of the health conditions afflicting the people of Nandi, especially in rural areas, can be treated if detected early. 

She said late diagnosis of any disease portends more complications. “It’s advisable for everyone to do regular checkups on the diabetes and hypertension diseases so as to help manage them at an earlier stage,” she said.

The CEC Member later visted Meteitei Sub County Hospital to check on health care and services delivery at the facility.

In attendance at the Joywo event were the spouse to Tinderet MP Selina Meli, Mama Doing Good officials and Tinderet Sub County DCC Madam Esther Oyugi.