The Senate health committee has lauded Wajir county’s effort of providing quality healthcare service to its people.
The committee was in the county as part of its oversight mandate to assess the status of critical health infrastructure and equipment in hospitals.
During the tour, the committee’s chair Jackson Mandago, acknowledged the effort the county has put in place in ensuring residents get quality services, this is despite the limited resources.
“As a committee, I must admit that we are quite impressed by what we have seen in the health facilities. There is tremendous improvement in terms of human resource,” Mandago said.
He singled out the county’s move to hire specialised consultants and maintain them describing that as a big achievement.
“It is not easy to hire that number of doctors and consultants. Twenty is quite an achievement. Considering that counties have to release them to study, maintain them on the payroll and still deliver services,” he said.
Of course there will always be a shortage but there is a big stride that has been achieved in the number of health workers, he said.
He also lauded the county for putting up the Wajir county….saying it is going to be a facility of interest even for the nation government to support.
The committee also visited Manyatta TB center and the Wajir County Teaching and Referral hospital with Mandago lauding the design.
“We have seen the space and everything is spot on. I think this will be a mini-KNH probably for the region,” he said.
Other members in the team included Senator Wafula Wakoli (Bungoma), Richard Onyonka (Kisii), Abbas Sheikh (Wajir), Maryam Omar and Tabitha Mutinda (both Nominated).
Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi described the engagements as crucial for identifying gaps, improving service delivery and ensuring residents have access to quality, affordable healthcare.
“The last two years has seen my administration cover a lot of ground as far as improving healthcare in the county is concerned. I am happy to report to you that even though we have not achieved everything that we set out, I can confidently say we have managed to improve the health standards,” Abdullahi told the committee.
During the meeting, they also held in-depth discussions on key issues such as the implementation of the Social Health Insurance Fund and the accreditation of healthcare facilities.
by STEPHEN ASTARIKO
