Health Facilities in Turkana County.

Hello there! Welcome to this LabFlow article.

Turkana County is located in the Rift-Valley region of Kenya.  In the 2022-2027 government, Faith Akuwom Aletia is serving as the Health Minister for Turkana county. (This is as of November 2022). In the 2017-2022 government, Jane Auru Ajele held this position. Health Ministers are also known as ‘CEC Member for Health’ or CEC Representative for Health.

CEC stands for County Executive Committee. The committees’ chief executive is the county governor while the deputy chief executive is the deputy county governor. In addition to the health representative, the committee has other representatives (approximately ten in total). They represent other devolved functions listed here. Depending on the county, devolved roles are combined differently.

Turkana County has 6 Sub-Counties:

1. Loima
2. Turkana Central
3. Turkana East
4. Turkana North (Kibish)
5. Turkana South
6. Turkana West

In summary, Turkana County has 294 health facilities spread across the 6 sub-counties. 11.6% of these are faith-based facilities (34) while 70.4% belong to the ministry of health (207). This leaves 15% listed as private facilities (44) and 3.1% under NGO’s (9). Kenya has a total of 14,251 health facilities. This translates to Turkana County having 2.06% of the country’s Total Facilities.

Let us look at the numbers in each sub-county.

In Loima sub-county, there are 41 health facilities. This makes up 14% of the health facilities in Turkana County and 0.29% of the total number in the country.

Loima houses the following 4 Wards: Kotaruk (Lobei), Turkwel, Loima & Lokiriama (Lorengippi).

In Turkana Central sub-county, there are 76 health facilities. This makes up 26% of the health facilities in Turkana County and 0.53% of the total number in the country.

Turkana Central houses the following 5 Wards: Kerio Delta, Kang’atotha, Kalokol, Lodwar Township & Kanamkemer.

In Turkana East sub-county, there are 23 health facilities. This makes up 8% of the health facilities in Turkana County and 0.16% of the total number in the country.

Turkana East houses the following 3 Wards: Kapedo (Napeitom), Katilia & Lokori (Kochodin).

In Turkana North (Kibish) sub-county, there are 50 health facilities. This makes up 17% of the health facilities in Turkana County and 0.35% of the total number in the country.

Turkana North (Kibish) houses the following 6 Wards: Kaeris, Lake Zone, Lapur, Kaalengi (Kaikor), Kibish & Nakalale.

In Turkana South sub-county, there are 41 health facilities. This makes up 14% of the health facilities in Turkana County and 0.29% of the total number in the country.

Turkana South houses the following 5 Wards: Kaputir, Katilu, Lobokat, Kalapata & Lokichar.

In Turkana West sub-county, there are 63 health facilities. This makes up 21% of the health facilities in Turkana County and 0.44% of the total number in the country.

Turkana West houses the following 7 Wards: Kakuma, Lopur, Letea, Songot, Kalobeyei, Lokichoggio & Nanaam.

In conclusion,

• There are a total of 30 wards in the 6 sub-counties of Turkana County. Turkana West has the highest (7) number of wards while Turkana East has the lowest (3).
• Turkana Central has the highest number (76) of health facilities (26% of Turkana County & 0.53% of Kenya).
• Turkana North has the highest number of Faith-Based Health Facilities. (Total of 9 out of 34)
• Turkana Central has the highest number of Ministry of Health Facilities (Public). (Total of 46 out of 207)
• Turkana West has the highest number of NGO Health Facilities. (Total of 8 out of 9)
• Turkana Central has the highest number of Private Health Facilities. (Total of 24 out of 44)

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All images in this article are courtesy of the rightful owners through Google Images.