KENYA – The President of Kenya, His Excellency William Ruto, has appointed a seasoned surgeon Prof. Stanley Khainga as the chairperson of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDU), for three years.

KMPDU is a workers union aimed at improving the general welfare of all doctors in Kenya and by extension the provision of healthcare to all citizens of Kenya. we have a potential membership of 8000 plus.

This includes all doctors whether in the public or private sector, interns, officers, registrars or consultants.

The President has been making changes in the healthcare recently. In February he appointed Dr Abdullahi Ali as the chairman of board for Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) for a period of three years.

Earlier that month he appointed Dr Samier Muravvej, a dental surgeon and owner of The Smile Centre Dental Clinic, as the chairperson of the Kenya National Hospital (KNH) and Daniel Rono as the chairperson of the board of directors of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA).

Health Service Commission

This appointment comes as a number of health unions, associations, and civil societies are lobbying for a Health Service Commission that will tackle emerging challenges in the sector.

Led by the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), the unions say that public health facilities are more unpredictable today than they were 10 years ago when devolution started.

The unions argue that health services in the counties should be taken back to the national government due to lack of proper resources.

“By far the worst matrix affected by Devolution has been the Human Resources for Health. A clear pattern has emerged in the Counties, where there is either no desire or the resources or a lack of both leading to haemorrhage of critical personnel from the Counties without replacement,” said KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atella

“Not only has the resource envelope for health services deteriorated but splitting it across 48 Governments has made it difficult to realise economies of scale. It is time for a rethink of strategy,” he added.

The unions have now embarked on a campaign to collect seven million signatures to have the constitution amended to incorporate the Health Services Commission.

“It has come to our understanding that we need to have an objective direction that even the governors understand that they cannot run healthcare anymore and we need a Health Service Commission for it,” said Atella.

Atella’s sentiments were backed by Linda Ugatuzi leader Prof Fred Ogolla who reiterated that counties did not have enough resources to cater for healthcare workers.

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