Iten: The National Government has awarded Elgeyo Marakwet County a vehicle which will be used for disease surveillance in a bid to improve provision of health services. Speaking when receiving the vehicle at the Governor’s office in Iten town, health services executive Monica Rotich, said the vehicle had come in handy as the county had a malaria outbreak in the lower region of Kerio Valley.
According to Kenya News Agency, Rotich said the vehicle would immediately be dispatched to the areas to assist in fumigation of homes to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. She said that the county was experiencing challenges as a result of sanitation and water borne diseases which were preventable. To address influx of patients which may lead to congestion in health facilities, she therefore called for more effort to be put in prevention.
Elgeyo Marakwet health committee chair, Justin Mutwol, said the county assembly would continue allocating more funds to the health department especially the public health sector; which is key in prevention of diseases. While lauding the national government for the vehicle, Mutwol said the vehicle would be utilized to ensure timely collection and delivery of samples to laboratories for testing in case of any outbreak in the county.
At the same time, Mutwol appealed to the area residents to continue registering with the Social Health Authority (SHA) to benefit from its services saying community health promoters are at hand to assist them register thus leaving no one behind.