Medics laud creation of commission on health

Medical practitioners and Dentists Board C.E.O Daniel Yumbya.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council has lauded the move by the Building Bridges Initiative to include its recommendations in its report.

Mr Daniel Yumbya, the KMPDC CEO, said the proposal to create a Health Service Commission (HSC) to handle issues of Kenya’s doctors and dentists will address many challenges in the sector.

“The commission will be a game-changer in healthcare provision in the country and will impact greatly on the delivery of Universal Health Coverage (UHC),” said Yumbya.

Once formed, the commission is expected to address four key issues that affect healthcare workforce like poor distribution, national training needs, industrial unrest and congestion in referral facilities.

The distribution of specialist doctors has been skewed towards major urban centres as well counties with referral hospitals, leaving other counties poorly catered for. “Out of a total of 2,500 specialist doctors we have in Kenya, about 1,400 are based in Nairobi, 158 are in Mombasa, 140 in Uasin Gishu, 138 in Kiambu and the rest are in the remaining counties. Some counties like Samburu have only one specialist,” Mr Yumbya told a press conference yesterday.

Kenya has 9,704 doctors and 921 dentists who are practicing. Yumbya says with the HSC, doctors on training will have a different register as opposed to the general register which is currently in use.