Nyeri County Government has launched a five-year health strategic plan to help boost primary health care to members of the public.
While presiding over the launch of the program over the weekend, Nyeri Governor, Dr Mutahi Kahiga said it will greatly enhance provision of health care services in all the eight sub counties.
Dr Kahiga said the roll-out of the County Primary Care Network (PCN) Strategy 2024-2029 and Community Health Promoter (CHP) Job Aid programme would further enable members of the public access quality basic health care services closer home and thus reduce the challenges of having to walk long distances to public health facilities.
“(The) two documents will significantly strengthen healthcare delivery across our county. The PCN Strategy will strengthen coordination between Community Units, dispensaries, health centres and hospitals, improve referral systems, promote integrated service delivery and ensure the efficient use of health resources as we accelerate the realization of Universal Health Coverage,” posted Dr Kahiga on his Facebook page
The event also brought together several stakeholders in the health sector including the County Health Management Team (CHMT), Sub-County Health Management Teams (SCHMTs), the Primary Care Network (PCN) Advisory Committee, Community Health Promoters (CHPs) and representatives from Amref Health Africa led by Country Director Dr. Meshack Ndirangu.
Nyeri has a total of 2,510 CHPs spread in 251 County Health units.
Governor Kahiga pledged to continue working with like-minded stakeholders in addressing critical health challenges affecting the residents of the county and singled out provision of quality health care, a basic right to every Kenyan.
He stressed that the documents reaffirmed his administration’s commitment in building a resilient, people-centered health system where every resident can access quality healthcare closer to home.
“The Community Health Promoter Job Aid will equip our Community Health Promoters with standardized tools to improve household registration, strengthen health promotion and disease prevention, enhance early identification and referral of illnesses, and improve accountability in community health services. This will ensure that quality healthcare begins at the household level, where prevention and early intervention have the greatest impact,” he stated
“I commend our healthcare workers, Community Health Promoters, development partners and all stakeholders for their unwavering dedication in making Nyeri a leader in Primary Health Care.”
During a past State of the County address Kahiga said his government would continue to embark on offering quality curative and promotive health care services to residents of the county.
The County boss noted that strengthening primary health care remains key in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to each and every person irrespective of his or her socio-economic status while cautioning that rehabilitative and palliative services are not the panacea in reducing disease burden currently plaguing many Third World countries.
“The County invested in specialized services such as renal dialysis, oncology, intensive Care Unit, High Dependence Unit, Diagnostic laboratory and imaging services for high level of care treatment. Other remarkable success stories in the health services include; the outpatient attendance increase to 1,638,725 customers across all public health facilities which is an indication of our citizens’ preference to seek health care services in our health facilities.” he said.
Meanwhile, a total of 17 County officers have completed a five-day training in Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Social Inclusion course at the Kenya School of Government Embu campus.
The training was jointly sponsored by the County government of Nyeri and the Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP II).
The training ran from July 27 to 31 2026.
Among areas of study covered during the course included gender equality, social inclusion, county planning, policy formulation, budgeting, programme implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and service delivery.
Participants were also inducted through workplace GBV prevention and response, stakeholder engagement, survivor-centered approaches, trauma-informed care, legal and policy frameworks.
Dr Kahiga said the skills learned during the training will prepare the officers in tackling workplace challenges besides offering practical solutions to emerging ones.
He also pledged to take a leading role in advocating against cultural vices like GBV which have remained a hindrance to social cohesion.
“The knowledge and practical skills gained through this programme will strengthen the County’s ability to mainstream gender and social inclusion across all sectors, enhance safeguarding in development initiatives, improve equitable access to essential services, and promote responsive, accountable, and inclusive governance that safeguards the rights, dignity, and well-being of every resident. Together, let us build a County where every woman, man, girl, boy, older person, person with a disability, and every member of our diverse communities can live free from violence, discrimination, and exclusion,” pointed out Dr Kahiga.
By Samuel Maina
