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The 100 medical specialists from Cuba will have to pass a series of tests before deployment, Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has said.
Ms Kariuki has allayed fears expressed by doctors' union who have been against their importation that the medics will be given preferential treatment on employment procedures against local doctors.
The CS, in a statement, said once the medics jet in, the Ministry, through the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board(MPDB) will ensure the specialists have the requisite skills and competencies.
“The Ministry of Health has instructed the MPDB to carry out an assessment exercise, before recommendation to the Public Service Commission(PSC) on suitability of the medical specialists to work in Kenya,” said Kariuki.
Once cleared, they will be registered and deployed and their practice will be governed by the rules and regulations set by the Kenyan medical board.
CS Kariuki said the criteria of narrowing down on the 100 was based on the gaps existing in the country. A major criterion, she said, was specialists to utilise the Sh38 billion worth of Managed Service Equipment(MES) in the counties.
Currently, the country has 2,204 active medical specialists from 2,711 that are registered by the MPDB against a population of 40 million Kenyans. Vihiga, Garissa, and Mandera are some of the counties with no medical specialist.
"Let it also not be lost on the public that the government has continually posted doctors across the country on a needs basis. However, most doctors that have been posted to hardship regions seek transfers to urban areas with others resigning from the public health sector altogether," said the CS.
There are also just about 6,000 active doctors out of over 11,000 registered leaving a gap of 40,332.
“Important to note is that not all these doctors and specialists are in the Public health sector,” noted the CS adding that the bilateral agreements with Cuba do not in any manner negate the need to train more of our own professionals and ensure they are deployed appropriately.
The specialists comprise of nine critical care physicians, three cardiologists, five orthopaedic surgeons, three plastic surgeons, five nephrologists, three urologists, one neurosurgeon, two endocrinologists and 53 family physicians.
The family physicians, she said, will work with communities to bolster primary health care which anchors the country’s health system. This is so as to reduce preventable disease burden and focus on curative and rehabilitative kind of health service.
The deal to have the 100 Cubans in the country was finalised last week when the CS was in Cuba, two agreements were signed then, one to bring in the Cubans and the other to facilitate 50 doctors to be trained in Cuba.
“To ensure skills and technological transfer the Ministry of Health will train one doctor per county in Family Medicine in Cuba,” said the CS.
She added: “In addition, Cuban government will support the Kenya Medical Training College to develop local programmes for training community health workers, clinical officers and nurses in family medicine to strengthen primary health care.”
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