At Kinna Health Centre, located about 100km from Isiolo town, we spot Zulfa Mohamed busking in the mid-morning sun while enjoying a piece of boiled maize.
It was not immediately possible to establish the source of the soft corn given the dryness of Isiolo County. But after settling down, we learnt Zulfa is one of the kidney patients who attend clinics at the busy facility.
The health centre, run by Isiolo government, operates a non-communication disease unit farm, where vegetables are grown to boost the immunity of patients. Maize, beans, sukuma wiki, spinach and green grams are among the crops grown.
“We came up with the idea of farming to help our patients because majority cannot afford them,” said facility-in-charge Hassan Guyo. The farm was started by the NCD Alliance – a human rights organisation – in collaboration with the county government to boost the immunity of patients.
“The condition of a majority of our clients is improving. We have seen traffic of residents coming for screening, treatment and prevention,” Guyo said.
Under the unique arrangement, NDC Alliance provides seedlings and other farm inputs while the county government oversees management of the farm.
“They drilled a borehole and now we have enough water to grow the vegetables. Our services are free of charge. Screening, treatment and lab services are all free,” he said.
“Last week, we received drugs from Kemsa courtesy of the county government. We see so many patients a day.” Kinna is among the health facilities transformed by the county government.
The county is undertaking renovations, expansion, staffing and stocking of the facilities to improve the quality of services.
At the Isiolo Teaching and Referral Hospital, the county has finished construction of the state-of-the-art 20-bed accident and emergency block.
“Our accident and emergency department only held five patients. But now, with the new facility, the bed capacity has increased to 30,” said Samuel Sirengo, a nursing officer.
“At that particular unit, the same structure also houses the ICU and radiology department. For the ICU, the bed capacity is increasing from two to 10. And for the HDU department, the bed capacity is increasing from four to 10.”
The county has also functional renal, eye and dental units. “Our CT-Scan machine is now working and helping us so much. For the pharmacy department, we are receiving medications quarterly from Kemsa.”
In addition, the county has acquired two coolers that can hold eight bodies. “The county government has hired 30 nurses and 20 clinical officers who have been distributed. Some are here at the main general facility and others have gone to the rural facilities,” Sirengo said.
The story is the same at Garbatula Hospital, which is about 150km from the county headquarters. The facility, which serves a catchment area of about 200,000 recently received a major boost after additional medical staff were hired.
“We have surgical outpatient clinics. We also have the gynecology outpatient clinics and the general consultation. We also have the lab, pharmacy and radiology services in our setup. We have the X-ray and the ultrasound too. We have the midwife ultrasound,” said Shukri Abdullahi, the facility’s medical superintendent.
“For theatre services, we had technical issues with the machines and the oxygen plant, but now they are sorted and already functional.”
The hospital attends to an average of between 80 and 100 patients a day. “We have the guidelines for essential medicines according to this level of the hospital. And the orders come directly from Kemsa,” she said.
