Nairobi, KENYA October 19, 2018: A Task Force formed to review the training of Medical specialists in the country, on Thursday handed over their preliminary findings to the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Health, Sicily Kariuki.
The CS constituted the task force to advise the ministry on the best modalities for addressing the gaps in the human resources for health.
During the event the CS acknowledged that the Health Sector has been characterized by a severe shortage and poor distribution of medical specialists with a high concentration in the urban areas at the expense of rural areas where most of the Kenya population live.
According to the CS the Healthcare worker ratio stands at 14/10,000 against the WHO recommendation of 21/10’000. While the Doctor: patient ratio is at 1:5,00 and Dentists at 1: 72,000.
“These rations are way below the WHO recommended figures and as a Ministry we are committed to improving Human Resources for Health and use of available health facilities as training centres will help us attain Universal Health Coverage,” she noted.
The CS acknowledged that the quality of training of the medical specialists has been affected by overcrowding in teaching institutions and teaching hospitals.
“Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and Mathari Mental Hospital, serve as the main training centers for doctors but over the years the number of trainees has been increasing with no commensurate infrastructural expansion,” she disclosed.
She argued that the low absorption of doctors by county governments after internship has further affected the quality of training and laying the ground for industrial unrest by health care workers.
The CS urged the team to refine the report and disseminate it to relevant stakeholders in the Ministry of Health and the leadership of Training institutions, teaching and referral hospitals, and County governments, to enrich it before the final recommendations.
“I assure you of my commitment to the implementation of the contents of this report. My Ministry will continue to collaborate with stakeholders in our endeavor to provide the highest quality of health services,’’ she stressed.