Kiambu Community Health Promoters (CHPs) heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday following the move by Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi to include them in the county workforce.
The CHPs will now be receiving a salary of Sh5,000 each after officially receiving their employment letters and also receiving emergency kits for working.
This development was welcomed with enthusiasm and cheers when the governor unveiled the Universal Health Care (UHC) Kiambu County, christened ‘Kiambu Afya’.
The over 3000 CHPs have for long served as volunteers without any form of remuneration or support since they were not formally recognised by the county laws.
Joyce Mwangi, one of the CHPs, shared her experiences with KNA, saying, “We have been facing a lot of challenges while offering our service to the community. Sometimes we even go hungry on our way, and at times, we have to walk for a long time because we lack access to means of transport.”
She thanked the governor for also providing them with kits, saying they would greatly enhance their ability to assess and treat patients.
The transition from merely observing and recording patient information to actively measuring and addressing health conditions is expected to have a positive impact on the community’s healthcare.
According to Governor Wamatangi, the introduction of a monthly stipend and the provision of essential tools and resources signal a significant step towards recognising the dedication and hard work of Kiambu’s Community Health Promoters, ensuring that they could continue to serve the community effectively.
He noted that the kits were also very important and that, through proper training, the CHPs could effectively use them to enhance their ability to provide vital healthcare services to the community.
“We are also going to equip them with smartphones to help them efficiently record and manage health-related information, improving their services,” Governor Wamatangi said.
Meanwhile, the governor also said that they had promoted over 700 care workers in order to enhance the health care system and that the county would also distribute over 1000 computers to the 123 facilities as part of the digitalization.
“We are making strides towards becoming paperless by distributing over 1000 computers to 123 facilities as part of digitization. They have already been purchased and distributed to the facilities, and they are now being installed,” he said.
On Kiambu County health infrastructure, Governor Wamatangi said that they were currently in the process of building 13 new level three hospitals to enhance accessibility to health care and also ensure residents received the care they deserved.
He explained that some facilities would also be upgraded to level four hospitals, namely Gachororo and Karuri, including the completion of some stalled ones such as the Bibirioni, Lari, and one in Githunguri that is almost complete.
“We are investing more than Sh210 million in each of these facilities to elevate their status, thus enabling more comprehensive services to the community and easing the work load in high-level facilities,” he said.
Wamatangi further said that rehabilitation and renovation works were in progress at 11 health care facilities in the county that needed a facelift and improved quality of care.
During the unveiling of the UHC programme, the governor flagged off pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical supplies worth over Sh65 million to health facilities.
By Cecilia Njoki and Kevin Gitau
