Afia Halisi, a USAID-funded programme has donated two brand new Land Cruiser vehicles to the Migori County Referral Hospital.
Dr Dalmus Oyugi, the Chief Officer in charge of medical services at the facility received the donation that also included four Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds from Mr Solomon Oirere, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jipiengo Organisation that is implementing the programme in the region.
Speaking during the handover ceremony outside the facility, Dr Oyugi thanked Jipiego Organisation and Afia Halisi for the gesture, saying the two vehicles will go a long way in addressing transportation challenges that have dogged the hospital for decades.
He explained that the vehicles will mainly be used for supervisory purposes officers who will be in the field tackling a myriad of issues concerning health including Covid-19.
“Maternal and antenatal deaths are one of the main challenges that the Ministry of Health was facing and many deaths had occurred because of lack of adequate transportation facilities,” he added.
But Dr Oyugi said that Afia Halisi in partnership with the county government has helped reduce those deaths through a rigorous process in the past.
During the function, the region’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Pauline Amollo announced that the county has recorded a positivity rate of 9.5 per cent on Covid-19 since the advent of the third wave of the pandemic.
She said currently the referral facility has four fully equipped and operational ICU beds but which are far below the region’s demand.
“We still have an additional space for two more, a number that will greatly help reduce the pressure on ICU services,” she said.
“The county currently has 1600 Community Health Workers who are coordinating with ward representatives at sub county levels to assist in early identification of Covid-19 related cases,” she explained.
By Geoffrey Makokha and Cynthia Kihu
