Turkana: Health facilities in rural Turkana have benefitted from an assessment aimed at inclusion in a programme designed to strengthen healthcare systems against vulnerabilities arising from climate shocks in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL). The assessment, jointly conducted by County Government and the Centre for Humanitarian Change (CHC), is part of a wider resilience-building scheme to strengthen the capacity of rural facilities against climate shocks, boost the safety of rural water supply systems, improve nutrition and sanitation outcomes, and facilitate livelihood diversification.

According to Kenya News Agency, prior to the exercise, the CHC delegation paid a courtesy call to the Office of the Deputy Governor, Dr. John Erus. The Deputy Governor mentioned that the entire spectrum of education, health, and water systems would benefit from the research experience on climate proofing brought on board by the CHC. Dr. Erus expressed satisfaction in collaborating with CHC, noting that the data-informed approaches used by the institute often lead to credible outcomes.

Dr. Erus highlighted that Turkana had suffered losses due to climatic variations, including heavy rains leading to floods, destruction, and severe drought. He emphasised that the assessment was timely and would assist service providers in adopting proactive measures. The CHC team, led by Dr. Anne Khisa, noted that the data collected through the programme would be used to develop frameworks for future county and national government programmes on health and climate change initiatives.

The County and CHC team also engaged with communities at Kakwanyang, sharing plans for anticipating disease outbreaks related to climate change.