A whopping 62 per cent of the country’s 14, 829 doctors are employed in the private sector, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha has revealed.
In a report submitted to the Senate Health Committee, Nakhumicha only 3, 930 are in the public sector payroll distributed across the country.
“Our greatest challenge includes maldistribution of doctors with 62 per cent being employed in the private sector and 38 per cent in the public where the majority are in major urban areas,” the CS said in her report.
She further lamented that medical specialists, largely due to the unique nature of the required work environment are found in bigger hospitals where certain facilities exist.
“The ministry together with the Council of Governors and other agencies are working on a framework for optimising their training and utilisation of medical specialists equitably,” she explained.
Nakhumicha was responding to a question by Nominated Senator Hamida Kibwana dated February 23, 2023 in the crisis of unemployed Kenyan doctors.
In the statement, the senator asked the government to state if there are any measures to address unemployment among Kenyan doctors.
The World Health Organisation recommends a workforce density of 23 health professionals per 10,000 population.
According to Nakhumicha, the density of doctors, nurses and clinical officers per 10,000 population in Kenya doubled by 108 per cent from 14.47 per cent in 2006 to 30.14 in 2021.
“Cumulatively, big progress made Kenya among the leading countries in the region but still has a 32 per cent gap to achieving the 4.45 per 1000 Sustainable Development Goal threshold index,” she stated.
She noted that the density of Kenyan doctors is 2.56 per cent per 10,000 population.
There are 12 medical schools producing an average of 1,200 doctors annually, the CS added.
