Uhuru acts to avert crisis in healthcare

By ROSELYNE OBALA

President Uhuru Kenyatta will today convene a meeting in a bid to avert the looming crisis in the health sector over devolution.

 Health care workers have threatened industrial action to protest the transfer of health services to the counties and subsequent payment of their salaries by the county governments starting January 2014.

 They faulted the immediate decentralisation of health functions, saying it was done in a haphazard and reckless manner, as most counties are yet to develop full capacity to run the health facilities.

In a move to prevent the strike, President Kenyatta will today at State House hold an urgent meeting, which will include governors, Transition Authority (TA), Cabinet secretaries  James Macharia (Health) Ann Waiguru (Devolution) and representatives from Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union and other unions.

 “The President has summoned a meeting to address the matter affecting the health sector,” disclosed TA’s Angeline Hongo.

 She continued, “We unbundled the health functions and transferred to counties as specified under Scheduled Four.”

 Though she did not give specifics of the meeting, the gathering is expected to deliberate on modalities to avoid the strike.

CAPACITY ASSESMENT

 TA will be on the spot to explain if indeed a capacity assessment and analysis was done before the transfers.

 The Head of State will  want to know if the stakeholders in the Health sectors were consulted and what was there general view and the way forward to address the crisis.

 The issue of funding remains a thorny issue, as health practitioners in various counties complain of delayed salaries, lack of adequate facilities, personnel and drugs.