Health Cabinet Secretary S Susan Nakhumicha has reiterated the government's commitment to ensure Community Health Promoters are recognised and appreciated.
Nakhumicha has acknowledged that for a long time, CHPs have been doing voluntary work without their efforts being recognised.
This is even as she began the distribution of locally assembled smartphones which will be used by the CHPs in their work at the grassroots level.
On Tuesday, she distributed more than 2,000 locally assembled and customised smartphones to CHPs in Nyandarua and Laikipia counties.
The CS is expected to distribute phones on Wednesday at Longisa County Referral Hospital in Bomet and Narok County Referral Hospital in Narok.
Smartphones enhance CHPs' accessibility and data exchange, aiming to ease the burden on those seeking basic healthcare.
The ministry seeks to ensure that every CHP receives a state-of-the-art smartphone equipped with the electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS).
The smartphones, locally assembled and customised through collaboration with Safaricom, are designed to enhance the effectiveness of our Community Health programme.
“The President directed that we give you stipends, for very many years you have been doing voluntary work without your efforts being recognised,” she noted.
“Your efforts are being recognised and the agreement is that we will do a matching basis of the stipend, county government to bring half and the national government the other half per CHP per month.”
She said the funds at the national government level were ready for release to the counties to ensure CHPs are paid on time.
“I am waiting for the county government to tell me they are ready, ours at the national government is ready for disbursement so once the county governments are ready we shall give them our money to ensure work is done,” she noted.
The ministry last month announced it has partnered with Safaricom to establish a dedicated call centre which will provide seamless and efficient support to CHPs and the counties.
In the collaboration, Safaricom will also provide cyber security assessment and support to the National Health Data Centre.
This initiative, according to the ministry, will ensure the safety of data in the electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS) hosted in the data centre.
