A total of 2,820 Community Health Promoters from Machakos County who have been offered basic training have been given kits to serve as first responders at grassroot level. Machakos Governor Ms. Wavinya Ndeti who was launching the kits at her office asked the health promoters to be responsible for their kits since the initiative is aimed at ensuring there is proper healthcare and improving the lives of the people at the grassroot. The Governor said that the 2,820 CHP who have been recruited from nine Sub counties, are now well acquainted with their area of operation and can work faster to cater for the people in the interior region. ‘These gallant soldiers in the public healthcare and warfare frontier are the first line of defence in dealing with community healthcare matters,’ said Ndeti. The County Boss pointed out that the training the CHP have received gives them the capacity to handle minor ailments, participating in mobilisation of the community during mass vaccination campaign and also providing advice on sanitation, diet and nutrition. She warned them to always adhere and operate according to the guidelines recommended and if a medical condition is beyond their ability, they should refer the case to the nearest facility. The Governor said they have received 2977 mobile phones that will facilitate the electronic reporting and with support from the Ministry of Health, they have established a functional primary care network at Kangundo Sub County. Ndeti added that Level 1, 2 and 3 facilities will address their health matters at the Sub County and Kangundo level 4 will be the referral facility. ‘As the county gradually shifts toward the attainment of universal health coverage, it is important to know that preventive healthcare is the cornerstone of health in our society,’ added the Governor. The Governor highlighted that in her government, their main priority is the people’s healthcare and they are putting a lot of focus on healthcare systems. This comes weeks after the Head of State unveiled and flagged off the Community Health Promoter kits for the 47 Counties, which signifies the government dedication to Universal Health Coverage and community wellbeing. The Health promoters are each expected to be responsible for 100 households and will be equipped with modern medical equipment and deployed in communities across Kenya. The Ministry of Health anticipates that the kits will help in the preventive and promotive programme that aims at detecting health issues early and managing minor ones at the community level.
Source: Kenya News Agency