This archive report was first published on 11 September 2019.
On September 9, 2019, Health Cabinet Secretary CS Sicily Kariuki handed over refrigerators worth Sh41 million to Kabarnet Hospital in Baringo County to support the immunisation campaign.
The refrigerators, valued at Sh41 million, are part of the Ministry of Health's efforts to scale up vaccination of children in the county, where immunisation coverage stands at 72 per cent, below the national target of 80 per cent.
According to CS Kariuki, more than 5,500 children missed out on vaccination last year, exposing them to diseases such as tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, and measles.
"Only 72 per cent of infants in the county had received all their vaccinations by their first birthday last year," said CS Kariuki.
The 81 refrigerators have been dispatched to areas that recorded low immunisation, including Baringo North, Tiaty, and some parts of Baringo South.
CS Kariuki attributed immunisation challenges in the county to interruptions in service delivery, citing poorly equipped facilities in remote villages that make it difficult for mothers to seek immunisation for their children as soon as they are born.
She also handed over 10,000 mosquito nets to be distributed to women and children in malaria-hit Tirioko ward in Tiaty constituency, where the disease has killed at least seven children in the past one month.
