• Philips backpacks are designed to be used by community health volunteers at grassroots levels.
• Philips Africa CEO Jasper Westerink says the items in the bag can be customised, depending on the need on the ground.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
The Universal Health Coverage will soon receive a boost, should the Ministry of Health embrace Philips backpacks.
The backpacks are designed to be used by community health volunteers at grassroots levels.
Philips Africa CEO Jasper Westerink said the items in the bag can be customised, depending on the need on the ground.
The outreach bag contains a set of portable healthcare tools community health workers and midwives can use.
"One can, for instance, use a bag that contains Philips’ pulse oximeter that measures a child’s blood oxygen levels, a blood pressure and heart rate monitor, and a portable ear thermometer," Westerink spoke in Nairobi on Friday.
A midwife can opt for a bag with additional equipment, such as a portable ultrasound (Lumify) and a wind-up fetal doppler to check on a baby’s heart rate.
"A midwife could do an ultrasound of a high-risk pregnancy in the comfort of the mother’s home," the chief officer said.
The device carries out a high resolution abdominal, cardiac areas, lungs and gynaecological examination imaging on an android phone or tablet through a USB connection.
The backpack has a solar panel to charge the devices while the health volunteer is on the move.
"The bag also contains a lamp since some volunteers will be working in remote areas that do not have electricity," he said.
Westerink said the company is looking at government bulk purchases for the backpacks even though there is no fixed price.
"Prices depend on the content of the bag as per the interest of the purchaser," he said.
This comes even as the Ministry of Health plans to hire 100,000 volunteers to steer its UHC agenda.
They have been vital in creating demand for family planning at the community level, as well as linking women and families to the health system.
The volunteers are hired by county governments and each is paid a token of Sh2,000 every month.
Kenya also needs 20,000 health workers hired by the national government to coordinate the 100,000 volunteers.
The workers who have a Certificate in Community Development or a related field will be hired at job group G, which is the lowest for health workers.
In the UHC rollout, the volunteers will be trained by the national government but will be compensated by the counties.
They will serve in their own villagers. Recently, Health CS Sicily Kariuki said the right number of volunteers countrywide will be determined after the UHC pilot.
The UHC pilot was launched in December in Machakos, Kisumu, Isiolo and Nyeri counties.