Mombasa, KENYA, April 4, 2018 -For the country to achieve Universal Health coverage, nurses must be at the forefront since they form the bulk of the health workforce, the Director of Medical Services, (DMS) Dr. Jackson Kioko has said.
Addressing the county and national government nurses conference Dr. Kioko said nurses play an integral role in health delivery and without them the sector would be dysfunctional.
He challenged the nurses to strengthen midwifery and nursing as a profession by embracing innovative and transformative strategies and actions that will overcome persistent nursing and midwifery challenges such as strikes.
The DMS revealed that the Ministry of Health, through the nursing division is in the process of reengineering its business to meet the current globalization standards of functionality by improving the capacity of nurses and midwives in various carders. “This will ensure an educated,competent and motivated nursing and midwifery workforce,” he stressed.
He urged the nurses to adhere to their work ethics and discharge their duties with dedication.
He also raised concern over the immunization coverage in the country which he said has drastically reduced from around 78 percent to about 68 percent due to persistent industrial action by the health workers.
“This has reduced immunity levels, hence increasing cases of outbreaks of preventable diseases,” he noted. The DMS urged the county governments to accelerate catch-up immunization programmes to increase immunity levels.