Healthcare boost in plan to employ 20,000 new medics
Health CS Susan Nakhumicha.
The state plans to hire 20,000 healthcare workers to bridge the doctor, nurse and midwife ratios as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha said the health workers would be recruited over a three-year period subject to the availability of the Sh21 billion that is required by the ministry to bring them on board.
County hospitals
The medics, Ms Nakhumicha said in an interview with the Business Daily on Wednesday, will be deployed to county hospitals in a plan that is also aimed at attaining Universal Health Coverage, whose official roll-out is slated for later in the year.
Kenya had a total of 189,932 health workers in 2020 with 66 per cent being in the public sector and 58 per cent, 13 per cent and seven per cent being nurses, clinical officers and doctors, respectively.
According to the WHO, the prescribed health worker density ratio is determined as 23 doctors, nurses and midwives for every 10,000 people.
However, data shows that the health workforce ratio in Kenya currently stands at 13 doctors, nurses, and midwives for every 10,000 people.
Required number
The data further shows that the country has a shortage of 3,238 medical officers, with the required number being at least 5,317.
There is also a deficit of 2,313 consultants, 1,070 dentists, 4,614 public health officers, 1,020 pharmacists, 4,167 pharmaceutical technologists, 3,970 specialist clinical officers and 9,301 general clinical officers.
Boost services
The plan by the state to hire more healthcare workers comes at a time when the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has been calling upon the national government and counties to employ 5,000 medical doctors to bridge an existing gap and boost services.
KMPDU said last month that a shortage of health workers has frustrated access to quality healthcare for Kenyans.
The medics also complained that most health facilities are grappling with a shortage of medical staff, equipment and infrastructure.
Working tools
Doctors had threatened to go on strike effective January 6, and part of their demands included basic salary adjustments, creation of call rooms, posting of medical interns, employment of more doctors and provision of working tools.
