The Garissa County Government has entered into a partnership with the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to renovate and upgrade Gababa and Ijara health centers to Level 3 facilities.
They will also jointly work to upgrade the capacity of the imaging, theater and emergency departments at the Garissa Referral Hospital.
This was revealed when a delegation from the KRCS and ICRC met with Governor Nathif Jama Wednesday afternoon at the County headquarters in Garissa Town.
The delegation comprised of Dr. Hussein Shagar, ICRC Health Coordinator Nairobi, Dr. Roger Alcock, ICRC HQ Emergency Medicine Specialist, Abdirahman Maalim, Head of Office ICRC Mombasa, Daud Ahmed, Acting Kenya Red Cross Garissa County Coordinator, Mohamed Abdikadir, KRCS North Eastern Regional Manager, Abdinassir Muhumed, KRCS North Eastern Wash Engineer, Mohamed Hassan, North Eastern Regional Nutrition Officer and Kevin Ngereso, the KRCS HQ Public Health Manager.
Garissa County administration also agreed to partner with the Red Cross to improve and rehabilitate the health facilities for inmates at the Garissa GK Prison.
Speaking during the meeting, Governor Nathif hailed the good working cooperation between the county government and the two institutions and called for more close relations to help bring down the high rate of maternal mortality which is being recorded in the county.
Governor Nathif was accompanied by County Secretary Mohamud Hassan, CECM Health Ahmednadhir Omar, CECM Gender & Social Services Hawa Abdi, Garissa County Referral Hospital CEO, Dr. Hawa Bakari and Habon Golo Abdi, Head, Family Health Services Garissa County.
The Kenya Red Cross Society and the International Committee of the Red Cross team was joined by officials from Kenya Red Cross based in Ijara and health workers among others.
By Mohamed Dahir
