First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has asked all health care providers to prioritise the safety and dignity of patients.
She said a safe and dignified health care system that reflects and respects the constitutional rights of patients is the only way that can make Kenyans feel confident in the care they receive.
The First Lady spoke when she officially opened the new Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB) office complex in Nairobi. She laid the foundation stone for the ultra-modern office block 18 months ago.
She said that through the Beyond Zero campaign, she had witnessed the pain families experience due to senseless, sometimes unnecessary, deaths of women and children.
The First Lady underlined the need for high quality control in the area of training to ensure health care provision remains in the hands of qualified practitioners.
“It is therefore critical that quality control in the area of training, and maintenance of high quality standards be the core values and ethics that drive the medical and dental schools, and teaching hospitals in Kenya,” said the First Lady.
She said the KMPDB has a huge responsibility in regulating the health care industry and setting national standards for the practice of medicine, a role she regretted is less publicly appreciated and acclaimed as it should.
“I am aware of the huge responsibility of the Board’s mandate to carry out its core functions of: educating and training, licensing, monitoring and evaluating,” she said.
The board also holds an advisory and disciplinary role by ensuring that there is health care harmonisation with key collaborating partners across the globe.
The First Lady said although Kenya is celebrating decreased maternal and child deaths over the past two years, there is still need for more deliberate action to address red flag maternal health issues including low birth weight babies and still births.
She said the new office complex should now inspire a renewed urgency, resolve and determination for the KMPDB staff to arbitrate medical matters with utmost efficiency, fairness and in adherence to the law.
The First Lady was also optimistic that the board’s staff will be energized and motivated to deliver exemplary service to the public and further ensure that health care in Kenya complies with the ever evolving demands and expectations of a new century and a changing country.
She congratulated the board for carrying out its work with diligence, discretion, an increasing degree of excellence and deepening allegiance to justice.
Health Cabinet Secretary Dr Cleopa Mailu thanked the First Lady for focusing her efforts in the health of mothers and children whom he described as the foundation of any society.
KMPDB Chief Executive Officer Daniel Yumbya described the First Lady as a role model who talks less but leaves huge footprints in whatever she does especially in matters of health.
He said among the 10500 doctors registered with the board, only 6000 of them are working in the health sector, 50 per cent of them in the public sector.
The KMPDB boss said with proper incentives, every doctor registered with the board should be able to work in the public sector adding that the notion that the private sector was a better employer was mistaken.
BY PSCU.