Community Health Promoters (CHPs), previously referred to as community health volunteers, in Kisii County are a happy lot after the Kisii Governor, Simba Arati unveiled a stipend programme with the aim of facilitating and motivating them in order to boost community health services.
Speaking during the launch at Gusii stadium in Kisii town, Arati said his administration has set aside funds for the stipend and were releasing part of the money for two months, even as they source for additional funds to ensure the sustainability of the programme.
The Governor underscored the need for the county government, through the Department of Health to work closely with community health promoters who play a key role in helping to bridge health disparities in underserved communities saying it greatly contributes to their efforts in containing ailments and promoting the health of the residents.
Arati added that they intend to have the community health promoters equipped with the requisite tools and gadgets to help them navigate the villages and effectively communicate with relevant health professionals in the health facilities on a timely basis.
The County Boss pointed out that the county will seek to have the community health promoters’ services digitized to help improve record keeping through patient tracking and record retrieval system.
“We appreciate our CHPs for helping to create connections between the vulnerable populations and the healthcare systems, by gathering the data at the community level and facilitating healthcare and social service system navigation for the benefit of the public,” he said.
One of the community health promoters, George Arama lauded the Governor for fulfilling his promise of paying them Sh4000 as a stipend for the work they did in the months of January and February.
Arama said the facilitation will enable them to offer comprehensive health services at the grassroots level and contribute to a reduction in mortality rates within the community.
This comes days after President William Ruto announced that the national and county governments had agreed to jointly support community health workers in recognition of the critical role they play in advancing Universal Health Coverage.
The President said they had agreed with county governments on the need to standardise the remuneration of community health promoters where they will be co-sponsored by the two levels of government even as health remains a devolved function.
In Kisii County, the Community Health Strategy which incorporated the community health promoters in the health system was rolled out by the Ministry of Health in 2006 as a core component of the Kenya Essential Package for Health (KEPH).
A total of 790 CHPs were enrolled and since then, the number has grown to 2940 CHPs, representing 100 per cent unit coverage up from 26 per cent coverage in 2006.
The community health promoters have undergone various trainings including the integrated community case management module through the support of partners, the community case malaria management module through the support of Amref Health Africa and basic module trainings.
These efforts, such as the introduction of community case malaria management by the community health promoters, had led to a reduction in malaria prevalence from 15 per cent before devolution to below 2 per cent currently in the county.
By Mercy Osongo
