- Such a commission, he said, should keep taps on emerging issues and be up to the task of addressing the industrial strikes by the doctors.
- He spoke virtually to doctors who had met in Kisii for the 48th Kenya Medical Association scientific conference.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has called for the establishment of a Health Service Commission to end perennial disputes between health caregivers and the government.
Such a commission, he said, should keep taps on emerging issues and be up to the task of addressing the industrial strikes by the doctors which paralyse services in hospitals.
"I believe it can cure the situation and bring greater sanity to our healthcare sector,” said Muturi.
He urged deeper engagement between the doctors and the Departmental Committee on Health in the National Assembly and that of the Senate to realise formation of the body.
Perennial strikes by the health personnel, said Muturi, must be addressed as the country moves to improve the industry.
He spoke virtually to doctors who had met in Kisii for the 48th Kenya Medical Association scientific conference which concluded on Friday evening.
The theme was, 'Technology and Innovation in Healthcare'.
More than 100 doctors turned up for the three-day conference at Karmel Park hotel in the county capital.
Muturi observed that even with the efforts by the country to improve healthcare provision, the cost of health care continues to remain prohibitive to most people.
A populace ravaged by disease cannot enjoy decent and affordable housing, he said.
"As a result, we grossly lack health equity. People will not give their best to manufacturing and certainly they will not serve the agenda of food security optimally if they are sick ," said Muturi.
Addressing cost as a bottleneck in universal health care rollout, he said, is an important factor to deal with more thoughtfully as well as urgently.
He said many Kenyans still run the risk of dying prematurely because of the high cost of healthcare.
"It is time to tinker with policy in order to make UHC a reality during our lifetime is now, not later," he stated.
As of now the National Health Insurance Fund is yet to convince Kenyans that it can provide for all their health needs.
"It is yet to convince Kenyans that it will one day soon champion our aspiration to have every citizen covered comprehensively healthcare-wise. For it to realise better results in the attempts to achieve Universal Health Coverage, more resources both at the national level and in the counties will need to be ring-fenced towards this cause," he stated.
The Speaker said Kenya still has a chance to make health for all a reality even in face of constrained budgets.
"While it is true that a developing country like ours has multiple budgetary needs to juggle, we must make the painful decision to once and for all deal with the skewed healthcare financing especially in the counties and adopt an approach that will deliver for us a comprehensive universal health care in a cost-effective way," he told a doctors forum virtually in Kisii.
Kenya, he said, must be prepared to make sacrifices to make the cost of healthcare for all feasible.
Speaker Muturi further decried the low doctor-patients ratio in the country saying it continues to impede efforts to improve health care.
"We have, in the recent past, tried to bridge this gap by engaging expatriate doctors from Cuba. While that is a welcome move , we must find new ways of improving the prevailing doctor-to-patients ratio," he observed.
Muturi called for measures to be put in place to stem brain drain in the health sector as part of the efforts to address the gaps in the provisions of health care.
"We clearly cannot afford to lose our healthcare professionals to other jurisdictions. Perhaps we should start with finding fitting incentives that will attract the multitude of Kenyans serving in the healthcare sector away from home, "he stated.
He further urged use of technology as one way to dealing with the yawning gaps in the doctor patients ratio in the country.
"Methinks it is time to embrace more advanced technology to make tele-health, nano-medicine and robotic surgery among others possible within our shores," he said.
The Kenya Medical Association chair Were Onyino asked the government to fast track the procurement of vaccines.
He said delays in getting the jabs will affect efforts aimed at combating the pandemic. "As doctors we ask the government that this be done quickly," he said Onyino.
Media Council of Kenya CEO David Omwoyo asked journalists to collaborate with doctors to help in the timely relaying of key information to the members of the public.
He said they will soon sign an MOU with the Kenya Medical Association to have constant journalist-doctor engagements as means to realising this.
Edited by Henry Makori