Doctors have faulted the government for what they have termed as wrong messaging to Kenyans in regards to the role of Community Health promoters.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union Deputy Secretary-General Dennis Miskellah said telling Kenyans they will no longer have to go to hospitals is a ticking time bomb.
He further called on the government to listen to the voices of healthcare workers in the implementation of key health projects.
For instance, President William Ruto has been on record telling Kenyans that CHPs will attend to them in the comfort of their homes and hence will not be required to go to hospitals to seek certain services.
“Shortly, Kenyans will no longer need to travel to a health facility for basic screening and the treatment of minor ailments, as well as preventative and promotive healthcare,” Ruto said when he was flagging off kits on Monday.
“Instead, health facilities in the form of these kits, and the community healthcare workers who shall operate them, shall go to Kenyans and serve them at their homes.”
Miskellah has termed it as a two-edged sword that will leave negative impacts in the long run.
According to the medic, the statement contradicts the efforts to instill health-seeking behaviors among Kenyans who in most cases present late when some of the diseases have advanced beyond control.
Miskellah said by nature, human beings love comfort hence telling them that they will be attended to in the comfort of their homes will make them sit back and wait even when their illnesses are severe.
“Some of the wording that comes from the leaders might end up causing more harm. Like when I hear the President saying that you will no longer need to go to the hospital we will be coming to see you at home that already is a serious problem,” Miskellah said.
“What is going to happen is when you are sitting in the village and get a child vomiting in the middle of the night, you call this CHP to come and give you paracetamol. You won’t go to the hospital knowing that you have gotten treatment because to Kenyans any healthcare worker is a doctor,” he added.
He noted that as a result, the child might get severely dehydrated by morning and might even die if no urgent attention is taken.
The CHPs will officially be unveiled during the Mashujaa Day celebrations in Kericho in October.
