The Turkana County Department of Health and Sanitation, in collaboration with the Centre for Health Solutions (CHS), has initiated cross-border tuberculosis (TB) screening outreaches along the Kenyan-Ugandan border. Employing a One Health approach, the first integrated outreach was conducted in Lokipoto, Letea Ward, Turkana West Sub-county.
This outreach marked the beginning of activities under the USAID-funded Tuberculosis Implementation Framework Agreement (TIFA), with CHS as the implementing partner.
Over three days at Lokipoto Dispensary, the outreach provided TB screening through X-ray and sputum sample analysis. Other medical services included outpatient care, antenatal care (ANC), and immunizations.
A total of 540 individuals accessed health services, with 264 screened for TB. Treatment was also provided for ailments such as malaria, skin diseases, and common infections, while laboratory services conducted ANC profiles. Additionally, 29,098 livestock were vaccinated and dewormed during the outreach.
Dr. Bonventure Ameyo, Director of Preventive and Promotive Health, emphasized that community-level screening would enhance case detection, contributing to the reduction of TB cases in Turkana County.
“The next step is to further intensify defaulter tracing to address multi-drug resistant TB and, of course, the spreading of the disease,” he said.
Dr. Irungu Karugah from CHS emphasized the importance of completing treatment and increasing case notifications as key priorities for the TB program. He also highlighted that community-level contact tracing would play a significant role in identifying and enrolling more TB patients for treatment.
According to Dr. Job Okemwa, the County Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Lung Diseases Coordinator, the program has engaged 13 health facilities along the border to plan for future outreaches.
Support for the initiative came from partners including the International Rescue Committee-Core Group Partners’ Project, the Kenya Red Cross Society, and the USAID Imarisha Jamii Programme.
