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Tag: Dr John Erus

  • Turkana households benefit from Government, Church led food distribution exercise

    Turkana households benefit from Government, Church led food distribution exercise

    Over 1300 vulnerable residents from 250 households in Kanamkemer Ward, Turkana Central have benefitted from a food donation jointly offered by the Kenya Mennonite Church, County and National Governments.

    The food distribution was officially flagged off by Deputy Governor Dr. John Erus alongside county commissioner Julius Kavita at Kanamkemer market in a ceremony attended by the senior officials and the general public.

    Speaking at the event, Dr. Erus said that the intervention was part of the broader efforts by the government and partners to cushion communities against drought led vulnerabilities.

    DG Erus linked the current food crisis to climate change manifesting as drought and flash floods in quick succession in Turkana and, assured the residents that the government was working closely with partners to provide relief and build resilience of communities.

    “Today, it is our brothers and sisters of the Kenya Mennonite church (KMC) through their relief and development agency Mennonite Central Committe (MCC) who have stood with us. The county is open to more organizations willing to partner to support our communities,” DG Erus said while appreciating the donors.

    Additionally, the DG took advantage of the large turnout to advocate for public health campaigns currently being conducted across the county.

    “Alongside this distribution, we are also conducting malaria prevention drug administration for under fives, social health insurance registration and, typhoid and Measles vaccination. I encourage you all to participate,” he added.

    On his part, County Commissioner Julius Kavita urged the beneficiaries to use the food to keep children nourished and in school.

    The commissioner hinted that the government would consider using schools registers for targeting households in a bid to enforce the school attendance.

    “Our brother and sisters of the Mennonite Church have sacrificed their comfort to give us this relief food. Responsible parenting demands that we pay back by ensuring that our children are well fed and taken to school to secure their future. I have directed all chiefs and their assistants to encourage communities to take their children to school,” Julius Kavita said.

    According to the County commissioner, the government had plans to roll our new round of food distribution exercise in the coming days following the commencement of the new 2025-2026 financial year.

    Food distribution in Turkana
    Food distribution in Turkana

    Manager of the relief food distribution project at the KMC Evans Oginga hinted that the targeting for the households considered family size to benefit all members.

    He clarified that the food items distributed included a ten kilo bags of maize, a six kilo bag of beans, cooking oil and salt for each family member in every household.

    Noting that the church had grand plans for Turkana including ventures in education and child protection in the coming days, Oginga added that they were open to more partnership ventures moving forward.

    While appreciating the donors, Mary Akeno Esinyen, a beneficiary of the relief food vowed to take part in government sanctioned public health activities as directed by both the deputy Governor and County commissioner.

  • Turkana to host international disaster response hub in new partnership with Kenya Red Cross

    Turkana to host international disaster response hub in new partnership with Kenya Red Cross

    County Government of Turkana will soon have a world class disaster response hub to serve the local areas and, international neighbors of Uganda and South Sudan.

    During a high level meeting between the County and Kenya Red Cross delegation, it was agreed that the ground breaking for the hub be performed later this year.

    According to the Deputy Governor, Dr. John Erus the new hub will not only improve emergency preparedness but also provide information for decision making on disaster response programming moving forward.

    “We can confirm, that the ten acreas land donated by the County Government to Kenya Red Cross Society will host the advanced center,’ DG Erus said.

    Adding that Turkanas’ long history of recurrent disasters make the county a strategic location for such an investment, DG Erus called acknowledged that climate change challenges are making the disaster situation worse every passing day.

    On his part, Deputy Secretary General in charge of Program Joe Mbalu said that the hub will bring the number of existing hubs to eleven as ten were already up and functional in other regions.

    “Once completed, this hub will be unique. Designed to serve all areas of Turkana including the hard to reach areas, the hub will also serve as an international resource therefore limiting time wastage in responding to disasters in the neighbouring Uganda and South Sudan,’ Joe Mbalu said.

  • One week, 100,000: Turkana launches rapid seven-day SHA Registration initiative

    One week, 100,000: Turkana launches rapid seven-day SHA Registration initiative

    Turkana County has launched a one-week Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) to increase registration numbers to the Social Health Authority (SHA). The exercise targets to net at least 100,000 people registered by the end of the campaign.

    As part of efforts to boost uptake of the initiative, Deputy Governor Dr. John Erus, who led the launch announced that the registration is free across the county during the period.

    “SHA is a well thought out government initiative. It helps to ensure inclusive access to healthcare. As a county, we are making it easier for our people to register by removing all cost barriers and paying up the first instalment,” DG Erus said.

    The RRI, operating under the theme Accelerating SHA uptake through community led rapid results, will be conducted across the 256 community village units of Turkana in all sub-counties by engaging all the 2,600 Community Health Promoters (CHPs), 127 village admins, and ward admins, chiefs and their assistants.

    The County Executive Committee Member of Health and Sanitation Dr. Epem Joseph Esekon reiterated that Turkana misses out on Primary Health Care (PHC) financing model based on the actual number of patients served in facilities due to low registrations.

    “This exercise serves to ensure social protection, increase primary healthcare share in Turkana, and ensure sustainable healthcare financing strategy,” he stated.

    Erus also assured the public that the Governor is fully supportive of the campaign. “His Excellency the Governor has publicly declared that health is one of the priority agendas. By registering, we will together meet the goal of a healthy and productive population,”

    Chief Officer for Preventive and Promotive services Janerose Tioko shared that currently only 164,556 people out of the total population of 926,976 people in Turkana have been registered.

    “I am calling on residents to take advantage of this accelerated initiative to enrol on SHA towards protecting themselves and their families. Out of the 301 health facilities, 218 have been registered, this means our residents can access SHA services from wherever they are saving costs,”

    The CECM announced that all registered individuals will upon registration enjoy free services from dispensaries and health centers, namely level two and three facilities.

    Erus added that, “This will ensure protection of residents against hazards likely to have a direct impact on mortality,”

    According to Director of Community Health Services, Joseph Lolepo this intervention is geared towards not only mobilizing residents but also educating the public about the relevance of SHA.

    “We are aware that some residents may not understand what SHA is and why it matters, today we are spreading the message that when you register with SHA, it saves you money as you can get medical treatment in hospitals without paying all the money yourself,”

    According to Epem, this ongoing exercise has also roped in chairpersons of organized societies within the county to rally their members in registering. These member groups include the transport, Sale Yard, clothes and textiles, Boda Boda, Handicraft, fish market, and loaders among others.

    “We are using all possible methods and strategies to register as many people as possible. This includes engaging various groups through their chairpersons to ensure that no one is left behind,” said CECM Epem.

    During the launch, Christine Asiyapat, a resident shared a moving testimony on how SHA recently saved their family hundreds of thousands in hospital bills for her child’s treatment and referral. “This child was in intensive care unit for a week, after two weeks in hospital and a week of scan imaging. Were it not SHA, we would need to pay over Kshs 400,000”.

    Moved by the testimony, Erus pledged to top up the pending bill, announcing that the gesture was to encourage all eligible persons to take advantage of the RRI and register.

    The overall goal over the next year is to onboard 1.5 million newly registered residents to SHA. This RRI exercise is meant to accelerate that process towards protecting the most vulnerable residents such as Asiyapat against out-of-pocket payments.

    Swaleh Ekutan, one of the CHPs, said that team members have been trained and sensitized accordingly to carry out the registration exercise. He expressed optimism that the set target would be met and possibly exceeded as CHPs were ready to go beyond the daily registration target of 100 people.

    Erus highlighted that Turkana is a unique population with most eligible members without national identity cards and mobile phones which are a requirement.

    “We are appealing to the national government for adjustments to be made in order to accommodate such unique populations, and even allowing the CHPs to register them using their mobile phones”.