Medical camp outreaches have been regarded as one of the best ways of improving health-seeking behaviour among the Kenyan population.
The majority of the population find it hard to seek medical check-ups unless they fall sick, a behaviour that at times leads to loss of life that could have been prevented.
It is in this light that Migori County Department of Health and various partners have come up with plans to promote medical camp outreaches to the population at the Sub-County level to not only provide free medical services but also create awareness to improve health-seeking behaviour.
According to Ms Dolphin Obino, a Health Promotion Activities Coordinator in the County, individuals can only understand what ails them if they seek medical assistance.
“Because the majority of the population waits until they get sick, it becomes impossible at times to help them, especially in lifestyle diseases like cancer,” explains Ms Obino.
She elaborates that medical camp outreach has become a better platform to engage the citizens at the grassroots level, making it cheap because they are always free and near you.
For example, Migori County, in partnership with various organisations, organised a medical camp in Nyagot Jope village-Kanyasa Ward in Nyatike Sub-County, where more than 1,000 individuals were screened and treated in a single day.
Even though the medical camps are meant to provide free medical services at the grassroots level, one of the important aspects is the passage of information that what is received at the camps also exists in all health care facilities across the Country.
“Most of the time, people think that medical camps are the only place they can be screened for various illnesses, forgetting that those conducting the same medical procedures are the ones serving the community at various health care facilities,” said Obino.
The official, however, encourages men to embrace the initiative of seeking health care services to provide a healthier environment for their families.
“Many of the men in Nyatike are in the business of fishing, gold mining, boda and rice production, forgetting that their health checks are equally important,” she noted.
Mrs Millicent Kanango, a nursing officer, says that the medical camp outreaches, especially in the Semi-arid region of Nyatike, are crucially important in addressing medical care challenges like immunisation, malaria, teenage pregnancy and HIV infection.
Kanango adds that it is easy for people to do things in a collective way due to persuasion and peer pressure, especially among the youth. She notes that reproductive health is such an example where girls encourage each other to attend the medical camps just because one or two in the group has done it as opposed to visiting the clinic alone.
Mrs Atieno Ochola, a resident of Nyagot Jope village, disclosed that the medical camp outreach recently conducted in the village has enabled her one-year-old son to receive immunisation at her doorstep, saving on time and transport to reach a health clinic.
She added that the Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) have also played a part in sensitising her community on the importance of the free medical camps, a true testimony that the medical outreaches can be lifesavers.
“My husband showed some symptoms of TB, and my last born had a fever that was found to be malaria, but they have been treated. And my elder daughter has been given guidance on reproductive health, thanks to the medical camp,”she noted.
Mr Paul Okumu, a retired Naval Officer, was pleased with the outreach medical camp held in his village, calling it a lifesaver for many residents of Nyagot Jope.
Okumu disclosed that he was screened for diabetes, cancer and TB, among many more diseases, but I thank God he was found okay.
Migori County Chief Officer in charge of Public Health, Mrs Marble Chanzu, says that the medical camp provides free screening services to lifestyle diseases like cancer, Tuberculosis (TB), diabetes and HIV and other treatable diseases, as well as blood donation that enables the county to focus more on preventive rather than curative measures.
She explains that the partnership to promote medical camp outreaches in the region will benefit the county residents who do not have a nearby health facility.
The residents of Nyagot Jope village always seek health care services at public health facilities, four kilometres away in Sori town, which at times becomes impossible in to access due to a lack of transport.
Mrs Chanzu, however, committed that the only built nearby dispensary will soon be operational this financial year to help the community access health care services.
Chanzu also applauded the Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) for mobilising the residents for the outreach camp, noting that a lot of lives will be saved in the process.
“Imagine someone having diabetes or cancer that he or she did not know, then in a flip of a second, a medical camp outreach helps to do screening and help the individual to start early treatment,” she paused during an interview with her.
While commenting on the Nyagot Jope medical camp, Migori County Director of Public Health and Sanitation, Mr Clement Odero, explained that the medical camp has so far injected hope by bringing medical services closer to the people of Nyatike.
Mr Odero noted that Nyatike, a semi-arid region, has been having challenges with medical services because the health care facilities are far.
“The residents of Nyagot Jope have been having challenges with immunisation because the nearby health care facility at Sori town is four kilometres away,” he said.
He said that the medical camp helped to solve some of these challenges by giving the necessary medical care attention, especially to women and children who find it difficult to walk long distances to seek medical services in Sori town.
Migori County, with the help of various partners, aims to take the medical camp outreaches to all the sub-counties to help diagnose lifestyle diseases as well as create awareness on health-seeking behaviour among the residents.
Such like camps have also been used to offer other services to the population due to their mobilisation nature. Most of the time, registration drives will be integrated with the outreaches, where the Social Health Authority (SHA), Identification Card, birth and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) registration drives will be conducted to benefit citizens.
In particular, such camps have so far assisted the county to boost its SHA registration drive, which currently stands at 42 percent.
By Makokha Khaoya and George Agimba
