Thwake program rolls out key health communication campaigns
By Godffrey Olali
A section of staff from the Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Program (TMWDP) on Friday, August 6, 2021 took part in a launch of the program’s Health Communication Campaigns.
The brief exercise which took place at the African Inland Church (AIC) Katithi church in Mavindini location, Makueni County, brought together at least eighteen community leaders and local administration drawn from nine sub-locations in Makueni and Kitui counties.
The launch was also attended by a team from the Program Implementation Team (PIT), Consultant’s Community Liaison team and consulting company – ICPHER – which will undertake the exercise.
“Our purpose today is to meet these social influencers and community leadership who will act as messengers and models to champion for the desired behavior change and policies within the sub-locations,” said Peter Musuva, the PIT Monitoring & Evaluation Expert who spoke during the exercise.
It was noted that as the dam construction progresses, many people will be linked to it either directly or indirectly hence population explosion and social interactions thereby forming the need to educate residents on key issues like sexual transmitted diseases and people’s general welfare.
Some of the sub-locations represented were Kathulumbi, Mavindini, Syotuvali, Katithi, Kanyangi, Masimba, Syomakanda, Ndauni and Mandongoi.
The thematic interventions that will be done through health communication campaigns include diseases such as malaria, water borne ailments like cholera, typhoid, dysentery and amoebiasis. Others are Covid-19, HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancies, issues of lifestyle diseases and respiratory infections.
The residents will also be educated on benefits of health financing which will encompass registration with National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), safety issues and nutrition.
The communicators will be expected to create messages and strategies that help people make decisions and take necessary actions to protect their health, increase the level of understanding of health risks and promote the steps that protect people’s health.
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