NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 19 – Health PS Mary Muthoni has pledged a more data-driven approach to addressing Kenya’s health workforce gaps, including expanding government-backed postgraduate training for health workers and improving the distribution of specialised skills across counties.
Speaking at the inaugural Kenya Health Summit on Wednesday, Muthoni said the government would focus on ensuring health facilities have the right number of workers, the right skills and equitable distribution of personnel as it seeks to translate health reforms into better services.
She said the government has continued to recruit health workers and recently transitioned Universal Health Coverage staff from contracts to permanent and pensionable terms, while counties have also been hiring to meet staffing needs.
Muthoni said the State Department of Public Health has funding to support health workers seeking postgraduate training and urged them to apply for opportunities to acquire specialised skills.
“I have money to take you to school. You only need to apply so that we can take you for postgraduate training,” she said.
The PS said strengthening specialised skills would allow health workers to add greater value when they return to their facilities, while a planned nationwide needs assessment would help determine the number and type of health workers required in each county and facility.
The approach, she said, would also help address disparities in the distribution of specialised personnel by matching workforce requirements to population needs across the country.
Muthoni said the government must simultaneously address unemployment among trained professionals, faculty shortages, attrition and migration while protecting the rights, safety and wellbeing of healthcare workers.
She identified data-driven accountability as another pillar of the workforce strategy, saying reliable data would enable the government to plan more effectively for future health needs.
“Data does not lie,” Muthoni said, noting that Kenya has developed growing capacity in evidence-based health planning and ranks third in Africa and sixth globally in national health workforce accounts reporting, with 92 percent data availability.
Her remarks come as the two-day Kenya Health Summit closes with the government under pressure to demonstrate measurable gains from its health reform programme, including in health financing, primary healthcare, the workforce and accountability.
Held under the theme “Reforms Delivered, Health as a Right,” the summit has brought together national and county governments, healthcare workers, development partners and private-sector players to assess progress and identify priorities for the next phase of Kenya’s health transformation.
The summit is expected to culminate in a Joint Compact and Communiqué setting out priority actions for implementation beyond the forum.
