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Motivate community health promoters
President William Ruto with some of the community health promoters at Uhuru Park in Nairobi on September 25.
In 2018, the government declared universal health coverage (UHC) a national priority and part of the Big Four Agenda. The main goal of UHC is to make health free and accessible at the point of need.
There exist multiple laws, policies and guidelines that seek to support UHC. The Constitution provides for the right to affordable and accessible health services without discrimination.
This emphasis was conscious and intentional. The dream of UHC as a tool for the progressive realisation of the right to health was thus met with hope.
Kenya has a worryingly low doctor-to-patient ratio with the probability of some citizens never seeing a medic in their lifetime. For every 10,000 people, there are only 1.9 doctors and 8.6 nurses and midwives.
This led to the recent introduction of community health promoters (CHPs), who carry critical health knowledge, skills and tools into communities and even homes to support. It is thus important to prioritise CHPs as a tool for universal healthcare.
As the country strives to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the gap in the access to health services is still wide due to the number of healthcare workers not matching the population.
That makes Kenyans desperate in accessing health services and, in some situations—like during a difficult labour, infection or other complication—a healthcare worker is desperately needed and there is none who is readily available.
The Kenya 2020-2030 Community Health Policy seeks to empower individuals, families and communities to attain the highest possible health standards.
Hence, community health volunteers, and youth advocates, carry critical information into the community and homes, crucial to save lives, prevent health burdens, help communities to flourish and support the work of doctors and nurses.
The devolved governments haven’t been effective in motivating community health volunteers, with most of them lacking health insurance yet the policy mandates them to pay stipends and even compensate the volunteers for their time. Yet CHPs are key to quality, affordable and accessible healthcare.
- Mr Shuaib is executive director, Epic Youth Organization (EYO). [email protected].
