President William Ruto will this morning at Uhuru Park flag off 100,000 Community Health Promoters (CHPs) kits for distribution to the 47 counties.
The kits aim to empower and equip Community Health Promoters with essential tools to enhance healthcare access and promote healthier communities.
The Kenya Kwanza administration has focused on a paradigm shift in healthcare delivery with renewed attention to preventive and promotive health services that begin at home.
It is for this reason that the national government has enlisted 100,000 CHPs to enhance primary healthcare.
This is in line with President Ruto’s pledge to accelerate Kenya’s attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as set out under the Government’s Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
The Ministry of Health says the CHPs will play a critical role in decongesting hospitals in the country noting that minor ailments will be diagnosed and treated at the community level.
They will receive comprehensive standardised kits, enabling them to efficiently carry out their responsibilities and promptly transmit outcomes to relevant healthcare facilities.
Each promoter will be responsible for 100 households and will be equipped with modern medical equipment and deployed in communities across Kenya.
A complete kit to be used by the community workers will include the following items; a backpack carrier bag, first aid box, jacket (medium and large), weighing scale, infrared clinical thermometer, muac tape (pediatric) and a mid-upper arm circumference muac tape (adult).
The revamped Universal Healthcare (UHC) programme will be launched by the President on Mashujaa Day October 20, 2023, with the deployment of the CHPs.
According to the government, Kenya’s health system has focused on curative services and vertical primary health care with minimal investment and attention to an integrated preventive and promotive approach that begins at the Household.
Four crucial bills set to transform the healthcare system are awaiting Parliament’s approval
What is the role of the CHPs
Community Health Promoters (CHPs) are selected from their communities, trained and deployed in their neighborhoods, and supervised by healthcare workers.
They will provide basic services such as health education, disease prevention, and treatment.
They offer a defined package of preventive and promotive health services at the household level.
By nature of their job, they will be required to interact with the people at the community level and get the relevant health information that will help in referral and also policy-making at the national level.
The new and bold plan will be dubbed #AfyaNyumbani
