Turkana County Public Health Officers and partners have committed to increase their efforts to end open defecation.
Towards this end, they target at least 40 villages in Turkana Central to be declared open defecation free in 30 days.
Turkana Central Public Health Officers have identified 40 villages across the sub-county that would be sensitized on the importance of utilizing latrines in a bid to increase the chances of having the villages declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).
The identification of the villages was conducted during a Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) review meeting of the Wash, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project, implemented by World Vision Kenya and funded by Unicef since September 2021.
The team had managed to trigger the said 40 villages leading up to January 2022. Triggering entails sensitizing the public on the health hazards caused by open defecation.
Deputy Director of Public Health Innocent Sifuna urged the 40 PHOs in attendance to certify the villages as ODF in two months before the project ends on 31st March, 2022.
He assured them of his support and appreciated their hard work thus far that had seen the certification of 709 villages since its implementation in 2017.
On his part, Turkana Central’s Sub-County Medical Officer of Health (SCMOH) Peter Lomorukai underscored the role of community health volunteers in achieving this target.
Rael Akoru, County School Health coordinator, urged the PHOs to monitor sanitation in schools through routine visits and inspections.
The World Vision Programme officer Benson Amara advised the team that to achieve the ODF certification starts with commitment to do follow-ups.
Turkana Central Sub-County WASH coordinator Godwin Ambani urged them to adhere to the work plan as discussed and to deliver the 40 villages.
By Peter Gitonga
