The Turkana County Department of Health and Sanitation has trained adverse-events-after-immunisation investigator Training of Trainers (ToTs) at all sub-county management levels in a bid to improve the detection and reporting of adverse reactions following the administration of vaccines within the county.
The three-day training, conducted in partnership with Path Kenya and the National Vaccine Immunisation Programme, was geared towards building the capacity of all the Sub-Country Medical Officers of Health, the Expanded Programme on Immunisation Officers, Pharmacists, Public Health Officers, and Health Records Information Officers.
According to the Director for Preventive and Promotive Health, Dr. Bonventure Ameyo, the participants will be responsible for overseeing and addressing the reporting gaps in their respective sub-counties.
“With the introduction of new vaccines such as COVID-19, yellow fever, and HPV, we need to detect and report adverse events in real-time,” he said.
The Head of the Family Division, Gabriel Lopodo, highlighted that immunisation services are a collective responsibility for all healthcare workers, as Turkana experiences outbreaks often.
He pointed out that the fragile health systems of Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan are the main contributors to the outbreaks.
The County Pharmacist Dr. Brian Muyokani, divulged that the next training would focus on the investigation of adverse events after improving detection and reporting.
By Peter Gitonga
