Kenya To Boost Healthcare, Under-Served Population

March 15, 2024 Hour: 5:52 pm

On Thursday, Kenya launched a community health initiative backed by the African Union and global aid agencies to enhance primary healthcare for the under-served population.

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The program, titled the Resilient and Empowered African Community Health (REACH), is under the auspices of AU members and will train 25,000 Community Health Workers (CHWs).

“The REACH Initiative is our beacon of hope and aligns seamlessly with the bottom-up economic transformation agenda, reinforcing our commitment to achieving Universal Health Coverage,” said Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Health Susan Nakhumicha who was represented by Nobert Abuya, a public health specialist at the ministry, during the launch in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

Abuya said REACH aims to fortify Kenya’s healthcare infrastructure and expand access to quality healthcare services. Under the first phase of the initiative, over 25,000 CHWs newly recruited in Kenya will be trained on community health and on the use of community health promotion kits and electronic community health information systems to strengthen monitoring and evaluation.

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Today, Kenya unveiled the Resilient and Empowered African Community Health (REACH) program in collaboration with the African… pic.twitter.com/6BPSU7OQij

— Ministry of Health (@MOH_Kenya)
March 14, 2024

According to the REACH initiative partners, Kenya has enlisted over 107,831 CHWs, of whom 25,000 will be trained in the first phase. REACH is being implemented through a partnership with Kenya through the Ministry of Health, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies through the Kenya Red Cross Society.

The REACH initiative, which was launched in October 2022, is the embodiment of Africa’s resilience and health security, poised to enhance the community health workforce’s ability to deliver evidence-based health interventions.

Kenya is among the 12 countries identified for initial support in the first phase of the initiative, signifying an important move towards integrating, institutionalizing, and sustaining CHWs within its health system.

Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa CDC, said community health workers are instrumental in realizing health coverage and health security on the continent. “The REACH program is a testament to our heads of state’s vision, and it stands as a significant step towards the development of a resilient health system,” Kaseya added.