The rights of refugees to health including reproductive health and sexual and gender based violence is not only a human right but also a key indicator of development.
Integrated health outreach as initiative aims to play a critical role in improving and extending the reach of healthcare through various activities for urban refugees, low income and vulnerable groups in the communities living in Nairobi settlements.
The outreaches are organized in consultations with stakeholders and partners working with the urban refugees and host community. It is coordinated with the sub county health management teams within the locality. The local community resource persons and administration are involved to ensure community mobilization.
During the waiting time to see doctors, we have health promotion officers conduct health talks on various hygiene and Health promotion topics such as proper hand washing, proper waste disposal, treatment of drinking water and general hygiene for families.
Referrals are crucial; therefore, we do have an ambulance (by the sub county team) on standby so that severe case that present at the event are referred to health facilities for follow ups.
The following services were offered during the outreach:
Curative services and health promotion and health education talks
Common ailments were treated and medicines provided to the patients. Various Information materials and posters were shared. Other medical cases from the outreaches that required review were linked to the health facility for follow ups.
Child nutrition supplements and growth monitoring
The mothers were counseled on exclusive breastfeeding, feeding after 6 months and importance of balanced diet for all family, especially the pregnant, lactating and under-fives.
The nutrition section recorded children who were moderate and severely malnourished who were later referred and enrolled Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) centers for provision of Ready to Use Foods (RUTF).
– HIV testing and Counseling
– Family Planning and Cervical Cancer Screening
– Psychosocial counselling services
– Ophthalmology consultations
– GBV assessment
– COVID 19 Vaccination
There were a number of beneficieries who presented with non communicable diseases such as Diabetes,hyper acidity and high blood pressure. They were given relevant medication and enrolled on wellness clinic for follow up at the nearest facilities.
Anemia was prevalent amongst pregnant and lactating women due to their vulnerability status brought about by their physiological status (pregnancy) hence increased need of iron but lack availability of iron rich foods for their consumption. To address anemia deficiency in these women, micro nutrient supplements were given to the women.
Leading in prevalence was upper respiratory and Gastroenteritis , this may be due to poor hygiene conditions coupled with scarcity of water and lack of hand washing practices and poor disposal of human waste as major causing factor and general poor waste management.
Impact: In order to increase coverage and ensure basic health care for the urban refugee populations the outreach need to be considered as part of increasing access to health care services.
The outreaches provide an entry point for urban migrant populations to the health system. From an outreach they are able to receive information and services on matters of health. The referral and linkages gained during the activity are key in saving lives.
Comment from a beneficiary: If there was no outreach, they could not have been diagnosed with the cervical cancer.