Nairobi — Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party Leader Raila Odinga says the devolved function of health to the counties should be strengthened for the country to realize its dream of achieving a Universal Health Care.
While addressing the issue of human resources and infrastructure, the former Prime Minister said the involvement of counties in bettering the country’s health care system is very critical.
"The counties deal with health matters where the rubber touches the ground. The counties are the ones that make sure that the health infrastructure exists and work and health personnel are paid," he said.
He noted that with devolution, eight years down the line, "there has been tremendous improvement in health care provision due to the role that the county governments have played in creating health facilities and employing health personnel".
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has also magnified the value of devolution, Odinga noted that counties have been able to have laboratories where tests are done and results obtained though proper diagnosis.
"That is why the policy must be based in further strengthening devolution rather than weakening it. This means building further on what we have so far achieved through giving counties adequate resources to fulfil their mission," he said.
He stressed that the idea of allocating counties at least 35 percent of the national budget as contained in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) is a modest proposal which will go a long way in ensuring primary and public health are delivered efficiently and satisfactorily.
Odinga at the same time rooted for the restructuring of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) noting that it’s reformation will save the country from the misadventures that has dogged the institution since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
"Let KEMSA regain its efficiency by competing in the open market and providing pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceuticals commodities to national and county government facilities at competitive market prices," he said.
To boost the human resource capacity in the health sector, Odinga proposed the creation of a National Board of Human Resources for health.
"We need to continue training more and more cadres and specialists for our health sector. We need to build specialist institutions like the referral facilities which both the national and county governments have embarked on aggressively since the advent of devolution," he said. Nairobi — Prices of teas from KTDA-managed factories improved marginally at the Mombasa Tea Auction this week, selling at an average of $2.43 […]