Nakuru residents who were displaced following chaos that came after the disputed 2007 General Election have called for the construction of a health centre at their camp. The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) say they lack money to enable them travel to the health facilities in the county. Speaking to HiviSasa.com in Nakuru town on Saturday, the chairman of the Nakuru Internally Displaced Persons Welfare, Lukas Macharia, said the camp comprises poor families who cannot afford to travel to seek medical services in government hospitals and health centres in the area. “We are appealing to the government to consider setting up a health centre at the camp. Our people are poor. They find it difficult traveling all the way to Nakuru town to seek medical services and cannot afford treatment from private health centres,” he said, adding that the Pipeline area was far from Nakuru town. According to Macharia, the poor living conditions at the camp contribute greatly to infections especially among young children and infants, more the reason why a health centre is needed. He observed that the over 50 families at the camp have a right to access government health services and promised that the IDPs would soon petition the Nakuru County Government and the Ministry of Health “through all means” to establish a health facility at the camp.

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