Regulator threatens to go after unlicensed health professionals as deadline nears

Unregistered health professionals in the country have until March 31 to do so failure to which they will have disciplinary measures initiated against them.

This is after the regular warned of a countrywide crackdown to weed out all health professionals working without a valid practice license.

The Kenya Health Professions Oversight Authority in a notice in January had called on all unregulated health professionals to apply for registration and licensure to practice in the country.

KHPOA CEO who is also the Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko in another notice dated March 24 said no health professional will be eligible to practice in the country whose upon the expiry of the deadline.

He noted that the regulation of health professionals is critical for the promotion and development strong and resilient health systems for the realisation of UHC.

“It is now notified to the general public and potential employers that no health professional will be eligible to practice in the country whose name is not included in the respective professional registers and that he or she does not have a valid practice license,” Kioko said.

“Upon the expiry of the timeline set as March 2023, the authority through the board will initiate a countrywide crackdown to weed out all health professionals working without a valid practice license,” he added.

KHPOA was established under the Health Act No. 21 of 2017, with a mandate to provide oversight of health regulatory authorities and professionals, in order to protect the public from harm by ensuring the quality of services provided.

According to Kioko, the authority has been tasked with making sure that hospitals, health centers and dispensaries, especially in the public sector, are prepared for the attainment of UHC.

The functions of the authority are fundamentally oversight regulatory in nature and seek to protect the public from harm and promote provision of quality patient-centred healthcare through regulation of health services, training, registration and licensure of health professionals.