The 100 medical specialists from Cuba will soon start their work officially after being given a send-off by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who also launched the national immunization program. Speaking at the health function at the KEMSA warehouse in Nairobi on Wednesday, President Kenyatta said the medical specialists from Cuba have received the necessary induction and will soon be deployed to Counties to strengthen the government’s promise of ensuring every Kenyan has access to quality health services.
President Kenyatta said the government is keen to achieve a hundred percent universal healthcare coverage for all households, and through investments injected to the health system, services like maternity healthcare have improved. However, he said the doctor to patient ratio is still low in the country, which is an obstacle to achieving universal healthcare, “The specialists are few yet their services are in high demand across the country,” he said.
“The bilateral agreement reached between Kenya and Cuba will enhance health collaboration and specialized service provision and help to build up our local capacity.” The doctors are specialized in different fields including cardiology, neurosurgery among others, “Am delighted to see you off to deliver services the people require,” he said.
The President also launched the national rapid results initiative on child immunization which will increase the number of children that are immunized against killer diseases. He also flagged off essential material for child health and immunization equipment to Counties to facilitate the vaccination project. “I urge the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to work closely with County governments to put in place measures to ensure that all children will be vaccinated by the time they join school,” he said.
He added that the Ministry of Health and County governments should begin a 100-day accelerated rapid results initiative to immunize all children who may have missed their vaccination in the past, “This campaign should be sustained and repeated if necessary until we achieve our target of full immunization coverage.”
