Hundreds Of Mt Elgon Residents Receive Free Medication From Bungoma Red Cross

Residents of Mt. Elgon in Bungoma County have been advised to embrace physical exercise and normalise medical check-ups to keep non-communicable diseases at bay.

Speaking with The Times Newspaper at Kamneru during a free medical camp conducted by Kenya Red Cross Bungoma on Thursday, Moses Juma, a nursing officer at Kamneru Dispensary, confirmed that many people suffer from lifestyle-related diseases but are ignorant of their health status.

“Most of the patients we’ve attended to, especially the elderly, are hypertensive but are not aware because they have never checked their blood pressure. We only had one case of a 25-year-old whose blood pressure was high, and we shall monitor him to find the root cause of his condition,” observed Juma.

REACH OUT PROGRAMMES

Janet Temko from Chebware commended the Red Cross for the noble act, urging them to carry out more of such activities so as to continue reaching out to the most vulnerable and people living in the most remote areas.

“Today my 4-year-old child and I received free treatment and medicine, which I believe will be of great help to us. We’ve been received in the most welcoming way, and the services were timely,” said Temko.

Though the turnout was fair, Chrispine Chepkok, a village elder from Kamneru, advised that such services should be brought to the locals often so that they can also benefit from counselling and psychotherapy, especially with the rising cases of gender-based violence in the area.

“We’re very humbled to receive the Red Cross today in our area, and I can attest that many victims of violence have benefited from this noble exercise,” acknowledged Chepkok.

Sarah Kipkech, a community health volunteer from Murimoi, highlighted late communication as a hindrance to reaching a larger population, though she was thankful for the services received.

“Despite the short notice, we tried reaching as many people as we could; my 16-month-old daughter has gotten her medicines, but some of my prescriptions were not available,’ reiterated Kipkech.

The free medical outreach has so far seen over 350 area residents benefit in the past one week.