NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 20 — National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has pledged to establish a national neuropsychiatric institute if elected President to address the mental health crisis facing the country.
Muturi made the promise in his acceptance speech at the Democratic Party’s National Delegates Convention on Sunday during which he was endorsed as the presidential candidate.
“The Democratic Party of Kenya Government will declare the state of mental health in Kenya as a major threat to National development that ought to be declared a national emergency,” he declared.
The Speaker noted that although health is a devolved function, it has to be streamlined to meet the needs of the people hence the need for national institutions.
Muturi said that he will change KEMSA’s policies since the institution has formerly been used as a cash cow, and restructure the NHIF system to meet the needs of the healthcare system.
He added that his government will work to establish 47 new county referral hospitals with standardized services in all the 47 counties, and provide adequate funding to bring on board more medics to ease the pressure on Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
He further encouraged Kenyans to support the doctors in the country by seeking medical procedures locally describing Kenyan doctors as exceptional.
“We must show confidence in our own healthcare if something isn’t working then it will be fixed based on first hand experience,” said Muturi.
