Health Services: Communal Health Programs
MBUINI HEALTH CENTER:
The main objectives of the project were to:-
1. Reduce travel time in accessing a health
facility by Kituiuni residents to less than 3 kilometers
2. Ensure speedier access to medical emergency services especially by expectant women, the elderly and children to relieve suffering
3. Provide accessible and affordable health services in maternal and child health, and HIV & AIDS preventive and mitigation services
A 2013 PROJECT ASSESMENT FOUND:
i. The health facility is legally registered with the Ministry of Health and enjoys support from the department of health, both from the county and national government.
ii. It has two qualified staff nurses employed by the government; and one casual worker
iii. There is evidence of KUSARD-Community-Government partnership which has lifted the facility from a KUSARD-Community-Owned initiative to a Government facility. KUSARD donated the land on which the facility is built, and provided financial support for the construction work. The community supplemented the project costs by offering Gifts in kind.
iv. The facility owns an estimated half-acre of land, which houses the health center and a medical staff house
v. It is connected to freshwater supply from the Ikuma-Kituiuni water project (A KUSARD PROJECT), though it lacks proper adequate storage tanks.
vi. The ministry of health provides basic medical supplies at least quarterly
vii. (7 visiting patients) strongly felt that the facility has helped to bring medical services closer to the people, reducing travel costs and the time previously required to visit either Kilungu Sub-district hospital or Upete dispensary, which are both over 10 kilometers away.
On average, it would take a patient at least 2 hours to reach these other facilities on foot, and 200 (KES) by motorized means of transport. Four out of the seven interviewed were women and had visited the facility for mother and child services. Common Child ailments such as coughs and colds, malaria, pneumonia and fever form part of the most common cases reported for treatment.
viii. On average, the facility attends to an average of 30 patients (mainly women and children) a day and services offered include: prenatal and postnatal care; family planning; dressing of wounds and first aid services; treating common communicable ailments such as flu; referral services; maternity services; HIV-related services such as counseling, testing, and antiretroviral therapy. First aid services for cuts, wounds & bruises are also common.
ix. Some facilities present include a maternity bed, a staff house, the main health facility building and a testing kit for common communicable diseases
x. The facility lacks:- electricity connection ( although it has been earmarked for connection in the Fiscal Year 2013 – 2014); a testing laboratory and a maternity ward.
xi. Fees charged range from 20 to 250 Kenya Shillings for card registration plus the cost of
medication.
The government is now subsidizing maternal delivery costs in all public health facilities.
KUSARD Team proudly considers, the Kituiuni-Mbuini Community Program, as one of its crown jewels in their over 22 years of Community Service. The project started as a 100% KUSARD undertaking, in collaboration with the Community they serve and after a lot of hard work at grassroots and international level; coupled with a relentless campaign to sensitize people of goodwill everywhere, about the need for medical services in the Kituiuni area, eventually the struggle was fruitful and the Health Center became a reality, against the general belief that, such services would never happen in this area for many generations.
But the war did not just end with just having a structure stand at the very center of the community like a white elephant without delivering the services for which it was build for. This was when we tried all types of ways and to bring about medical services here and for the full story why we deem this as one of our most cherished success stories click here:“ONE OF KUSARD’S SUCCESS STORIES!”
We would like to pursue our other initiatives fashioned after this model whereby KUSARD and the Community come up with a development initiative and work on it with dedication; be it environmental; educational; health; social issues etc and hopefully in due course, our County Government, which so far under Hon. Governor Kibutha Kibwana has made our County a showcase of great governance prioritizing accountability, might see our efforts, and just like in the case of the Kituiuni-Mbuini Health Center, find it worthy of their consideration and partner with us.
View An interview with the Medical Officer in Charge of Kituiuni-Mbuini Clinic
Or:
A glimpse of how the Health Center has progressed over the years!
Or:
Thank you!
