Health Access

There are 71 level 2, 18 level 3, 8 level 4 and 1 level 5 hospitals in the county which include private and mission hospitals. The government operates about 65% of the facilities while the rest are managed by the private and mission hospitals. Most facilities especially those constructed by CDF in various constituencies lack personnel and even drugs. Due to the high population in the county, there is need to upgrade some of the health centres and equip them to decongest Kisii level 5 hospital. If all the constructed facilities are equipped, then the household distance to the nearest health centre will be reduced from the current 4 km to 2km.

Morbidity

The morbidity rate in the county is 22.7% for men and 27.4% for women. The five most common diseases in the county in order of preference are Malaria, diarrhea, urinary tract infections, skin diseases, pneumonia and respiratory diseases. Hence there is need to clean the environment to reduce breeding places for mosquitoes and encouraging families to sleep under treated mosquito nets. The water sources should be protected to prevent water borne diseases.

Nutritional status

The county has a few number of stunted children growths due to low intakes of nutritious foods. The low nutrition levels in the county are partly attributed to lack of taking balanced diets due to ignorance among the mothers. Hence there is need to teach nutritional educations in all in public barazas and churches, besides schools in order to have healthy children.

Immunization coverage

The immunization coverage in the county is estimated at over 90% in the county against common diseases such as polio. Therefore there is need to ensure 100% immunization through public sensitization on the importance of immunization. This will reduce child mortality rates in the county and accelerate the achievement of the MDG goal number 4.

Access to family planning services /Contraceptive prevalence

The cultural belief of having many children for social security during old age is being discarded in the county. Trends in family planning indicate that the current acceptance rate is between 70-75%.There are several health facilities in the county offering family planning services. There need to enhance family planning campaigns in order to reduce the pressure on available land overstretching of other amenities.