State should scale up medical response to drought-hit areas

Qura Laana, a herdswoman walking her camels through Chalbi desert in North Horr, Marsabit county on January 20, 2021. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Living conditions and health of residents in drought-hit areas continue to deteriorate by the day and require urgent attention.

For example, lactating mothers and their children in most parts of regions worst hit by the drought are severely malnourished and have been forced to rely on supplements.

The grim reality is captured by the case of a mother in Kilifi County whose 10-month old child weighs just 5kg instead of the standard 10kg.

According to the national Government close to a million children, aged between nine and 59 months are malnourished. And more than 134,000 lactating mothers are also malnourished and in need of treatment.

The crisis has affected women’s access to maternal healthcare putting their lives and the lives of their unborn children at risk.

In some regions the county governments like Mandera through their departments of health are responding to the situation through outreach teams to treat children for malnutrition. According to the county Health Executive, as of December 22, at least 106 malnourished children had been admitted across the county’s hospitals.

The teams also carry out vaccinations, post and ante-natal clinics, family planning and other health interventions. But these efforts needs to be supplemented by both State and non-State actors.

The situation is not any better in the neighbouring Marsabit County.

Between January and October 30, 2022 a total of 14,592 children were admitted to the county’s malnutrition feeding programmes-the therapeutic feeding programme and the supplementary feeding programmes.

According to the county’s data, 3,791 of these children were severely malnourished, while 10,801 were acutely malnourished. There were also 7,056 severely malnourished pregnant and lactating mothers.

These are not mere statistics. These are people’s lives at risk. The national government with the help of county governments should map out malnutrition hotspots that need emergency response.

The national government can also help in distribution of lifesaving and essential nutrition commodities, enhance early detection, treatment and referral of acutely malnourished children under five years old and provide technical support to counties.

The Ministry of Health with international organisations and county governments can also offer technical support on drought response mechanisms, increase disease surveillance and response, help transport food and nutrition supplements.

The promise by the Government that the country will be food secure in the next months is welcome. But before then, let's us do all we can to address the drought's impact on health.