Nairobi, September 22, 2021.Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache has today presided over the launch of a curriculum for the Master of Medicine (MMed) program for Dermatology and Emergency, a move she termed as a great milestone that will enhance capacity building and bridge the existing gap for emergency care in the country and the region.
The curriculum has been developed will shall be implemented by Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in collaboration with the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
“This is indeed a celebration of a great achievement for Kenya, I have no doubt that this course will help advance the modernization of the medical curriculum to better respond to the needs of our society, while training better specialists for tomorrow.” She said.
She observed that the lack of specific personnel training, poor coordination of incident management activities and the lack of standard operational procedures and emergency operation plans have exposed citizens to increased morbidity and mortality. “I am concerned, that Kenya has only thirty-four (34) registered dermatologists and three (3) emergency physicians who were trained outside the country at great expense to the Government.” The PS said.
She noted that the training will equip the country in terms of specialists to better respond to emergency cases that arise from building collapses, fires, flooding, road traffic accidents epidemics, and terrorism, that tend overwhelm the existing health system.
The PS informed that in appreciation of the urgent need for quality emergency care, the Ministry of Health has launched the first ever Kenya Emergency Medical Care (EMC) Policy 2020-2030 in July 2021, that seeks to establish a working EMC system as a key component of healthcare provision in Kenya.
She assured of the Government’s commitment to address health challenges such as emergencies for the great benefit of all Kenyans.“Building the capacity of our health workers is a key pillar towards the achievement of Universal Health Coverage we envision that through this partnership, KNH and JKUAT, shall produce the first cohort of skin specialists and emergency physicians trained in Kenya within the next four years.” She said.
PS-Susan Mochache with JKUAT Vice Chancellor Prof Wangui Ngumi during the launch of Masters in Medicine programmes in Emergency Medicine and Dermatology scaled.