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Role of Kenya health outreach project
- Details
- Published on Saturday, 07 July 2007 07:17
said yesterday that Catholics had been misled into believing that the=
"medical kiosks" set up in various places were outlets of contraception.
The team running the "kiosks" in trading centres in Nyanza Province said=
they had encountered opposition in some areas, especially in South Kisii [Gucha] District.
An official, Mr Pius Akama, who has a "kiosk" at Sengera in South Kisii,=
said he had been confronted by some Catholic clerics, who thought he was involved in distributing contraception.
"We want to tell them this is not a family planning project. These=
'kiosks' are meant to enable our people access health services," he said, adding that=
reproductive health care was only a component of the project.
Others who are running "kiosks" are Mr David Osiro (Kadel Market, Rachuonyo), Mr Malaki Obare (Igare Market, South Kisii), Mrs Fransisca Betty=
Opondo (Riosiri Market, Migori), Mr Opiyo Richard Okumu (Ratang'a Market,=
Homa Bay), Mrs Tabitha Osiany (Opapo Market, Migori), Mr John Ochieng' (Rangwe Market) and Mrs Jacinta Akoth (Oyugis Market, Rachuonyo).
The team has initiated the Market Day Nurse/Midwife Seedcorn Project,=
which seeks to improve access to health care services by under-served communities.=
"Kiosks" in this category are manned by nurses and midwives.
An official of the project, Mrs Margaret Odindo, said they would launch=
34 "kiosks" in Nairobi and Nyanza to operate during market days. Each "kiosk"=
is to offer treatment for minor ailments, maternal and child health, family planning services and management of sexually transmitted infections.
The project is funded by the British Government's Department for International Development (DfID) and is being implemented jointly by the Ministry of Health and the UK-based Futures Group International.
It is to be implemented in Migori, Homa Bay, Rachuonyo, Kisii, Gucha, Kisumu, Bondo Kiambu, Thika, Machakos, Makueni and Nairobi.
Speaking during the launch at Rangwe Market, the Homa Bay medical officer=
of health, Dr Hezron Oluoch, said the "kiosks" would improve provision of health care services by supplementing services offered at the current health=
"The nurses and midwives running these "kiosks" are close to the communities targeted. They will enable us access remote areas we have been=
unable to reach in the past."
