Busia: Nyeri County Government has launched a five-year health strategic plan to help boost primary health care to members of the public.
According to Kenya News Agency, while presiding over the launch of the program over the weekend, Nyeri Governor, Dr. Mutahi Kahiga, said it will greatly enhance the provision of health care services in all the eight sub-counties. Dr. Kahiga stated that the roll-out of the County Primary Care Network (PCN) Strategy 2024-2029 and the Community Health Promoter (CHP) Job Aid programme would further enable members of the public to access quality basic health care services closer to home, thus reducing the challenges of having to walk long distances to public health facilities.
Dr. Kahiga emphasized on his Facebook page that the two documents will significantly strengthen healthcare delivery across the county. The PCN Strategy aims to improve coordination between Community Units, dispensaries, health centres, and hospitals, enhance referral systems, and promote integrated service delivery to ensure the efficient use of health resources as the county accelerates towards Universal Health Coverage.
The event also brought together several stakeholders in the health sector, including the County Health Management Team (CHMT), Sub-County Health Management Teams (SCHMTs), the Primary Care Network (PCN) Advisory Committee, Community Health Promoters (CHPs), and representatives from Amref Health Africa led by Country Director Dr. Meshack Ndirangu. Nyeri boasts a total of 2,510 CHPs spread across 251 County Health units.
Governor Kahiga pledged to continue collaborating with like-minded stakeholders to address critical health challenges affecting county residents. He stressed that the documents reaffirm his administration's commitment to building a resilient, people-centered health system where every resident can access quality healthcare closer to home.
The Community Health Promoter Job Aid will equip CHPs with standardized tools to improve household registration, strengthen health promotion and disease prevention, enhance early identification and referral of illnesses, and improve accountability in community health services. This initiative aims to ensure that quality healthcare begins at the household level, where prevention and early intervention have the greatest impact.
In a past State of the County address, Kahiga noted that strengthening primary health care remains key in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for each person, irrespective of their socio-economic status. He highlighted that rehabilitative and palliative services are not the sole solutions to reduce the disease burden currently plaguing many Third World countries.
Furthermore, a total of 17 County officers have completed a five-day training in Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Social Inclusion course at the Kenya School of Government Embu campus. The training, sponsored by the County government of Nyeri and the Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP II), ran from July 27 to 31, 2026, and covered areas such as gender equality, social inclusion, county planning, policy formulation, and more.
Dr. Kahiga expressed that the skills learned during the training will prepare officers to tackle workplace challenges and offer practical solutions to emerging ones. He also committed to advocating against cultural vices like GBV, which hinder social cohesion, and emphasized the importance of building a county where every individual can live free from violence and discrimination.