More than 4,200 Community Health Promoters (CHPs) have been recruited in Kakamega County to support and offer primary health care to the residents.
Governor Fernandes Barasa said CHP kits had been distributed in the region under the Universal Health Care programme to ensure the program's success in the county.
Speaking on Sunday during Mashujaa Day Celebrations at Inaya Primary School grounds in Butere Subcounty, Barasa expressed his commitment to improving the CHPs’ working conditions and terms of service for effective service delivery.
He said the CHPs are the real heroes and heroines who should be celebrated for their selfless service to the communities they attend.
“We want to celebrate you as heroes and heroines today, because of the sacrifice and the risks you undertake to save other people’s lives,” Governor Barasa said.
The governor lauded the community health workers for accompanying expectant mothers to health facilities and linking them to qualified service providers.
He promised to prioritise their welfare by ensuring they are appropriately facilitated and their monthly stipends paid on time.
Barasa lauded President William Ruto for assenting into law the four Bills meant to spearhead the Universal Health Coverage plan.
The four included the Social Health Insurance Act, the Digital Health Act, the Primary Healthcare Act, and the Facility Improvement Financing Act.
He said with the new kits, the CHPs are now adequately equipped to serve thousands of Kakamega residents in need of primary health care.
The governor said the residents will no longer need to travel to far-flung health facilities for basic screening and treatment of minor ailments.
Community health promoters are trained members of the community who work as a link between the community and formal health facilities.
They are responsible for providing basic health services such as health education, disease prevention, and treatment.
The person must also be a respectable person in the community they come from.
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.
This means the person being sent to interact with the community should be trusted with personal information hence promoting the willingness of the public to share and open up about what they are going through.