Pepo La Tumaini Jangwani

Increasing health access and uptake among marginalised and disadvantaged communities in Isiolo.

Egmont Partner Pepo La Tumaini Jangwani (The Wind of Hope in the Desert) works in Isiolo, a diverse and underserved town on Kenya’s northern trade route. Many residents live below the poverty line, with semi-nomadic pastoralist communities particularly affected by drought and urbanisation. Low education levels (over 46% of adults have no formal schooling) fuel stigma around HIV and TB, leading to poor treatment uptake. HIV treatment coverage stands at just 59%, well below the national average of 90%.

Pepo has been working with Isiolo’s marginalised communities for 25 years, delivering community-led health and education responses.

In their Egmont-funded project, Pepo are addressing issues around treatment access and adherence among those living with HIV, AIDS and TB, as well as enhancing health education to reduce infection rates and stigma by building the knowledge and skills of their community health volunteers.

Mobile health camps are bringing services, health education and testing to marginalised groups (including street youth, prostitutes, drug users and pastoralists), while the project is also seeking to improve the health resilience of these groups by increasing the services available for people living with HIV at Pepo's health facility.