• The distribution of the PPE is ongoing amid as virus cases continue to rise.
• So far, 450 healthcare workers have been exposed to the virus, with four having died.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
Nurses and other frontline healthcare workers in the fight against Covid-19 are set to benefit from Sh200 million personal protective equipment.
The distribution of the PPE is ongoing amid fears among the healthcare workers over spike in virus cases.
So far, 450 healthcare workers have been exposed to the virus, with four having died.
The PPE has been procured jointly by the Equity Group Foundation and the Kenya Covid-19 Fund, while the National Nurses Association of Kenya and other healthcare associations are providing technical support.
Counties that have received the PPE include Garissa, Kericho, Kilifi, Kiambu, Mombasa, Kwale, Isiolo, Meru, Kisumu, Busia, Samburu, Siaya, Machakos, Kitui, Nakuru, Laikipia and Kajiado.
Kenyatta National Hospital and the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital have also received the PPE.
“This exercise is among the association’s three priority measures to safeguard healthcare workers, which include proper training and provision of psychosocial support,” NNAK president Alfred Obengo said.
Advocating more resources, Obengo reiterated that nurses and midwives, among other healthcare personnel, are under-equipped, understaffed, undertrained. He thus said additional investment is needed to address the three critical gaps.
“Amid rising cases of Covid-19 across the country, the situation in healthcare centres has continued to move from bad to worse, a development that is endangering not only the lives of healthcare workers but also those of their families,” Obengo said.
“This may be a hindrance to offering quality services, putting into consideration the fact that ratio of nurses to patients has not been attained.”
Last week, healthcare unions threatened to inspect all medical facilities in the country and ensure those that do not meet safety standards are shut down.
The unions noted that dispensaries are classified as low risk in terms of infections, yet the country has an established community transmission level.
"We are not enough but we have continued to work. We have even lost our own. The loss of one healthcare worker is equivalent to losing 1,000 Kenyans," KUCO secretary general George Gibore said.
They noted that all these factors had highly contributed to the upsurge of healthcare workers getting infected and which equally putting their families and the public at risk.