Garissa: Environmental and Public Health officers have raised concerns about being overshadowed by key institutions and departments under Infections, Prevention and Control (IPC) by medical professionals working in curative care.
According to Kenya News Agency, Public Health Officers (PHOs) assert that doctors and nurses, whose primary focus is on curative measures, have intruded upon their departments and assumed leadership roles in disease prevention, which they claim is their rightful domain. During a meeting in Garissa County, led by Brown Ashira, the national General Secretary of the Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health practitioners (KEHPHPU), PHOs called for counties to assign their qualified members to IPC departments.
'Infections, prevention and control (IPC) is a reserve of public health, primary healthcare is also a reserve of public health. We know there are colleagues in the clinical areas who have occupied IPC and we are putting them on notice and we are telling them to relinquish those positions,' Ashira stated. He further urged the Chief Officer to appoint qualified PHOs to lead the IPC and public health departments in Garissa, emphasizing the need to prevent those masquerading as public health officers from taking charge.
The union also highlighted the need for the Garissa county government to employ enough PHOs to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended ratio to population. Ashira pointed out that with a population of 800,000 in Garissa, only 60 public health officers are currently serving, whereas WHO guidelines suggest one PHO per 6,500 to 7,000 people.
Additional grievances include alleged neglect in promotions and the management of the Facility Improvement Fund (FIF). Juma Mahero, KEHPHPU's national vice chairperson, expressed frustration over public health officers being excluded from accessing funds they help generate. He stressed the importance of PHOs being signatories to the FIF, as they play a crucial role in prevention and revenue generation through various health services.
Antony Kilonzo, the Garissa branch secretary general for KEHPHPU, highlighted the frequent disease outbreaks in the county, often attributed to cross-border migration from neighboring countries lacking consistent vaccination programs. He noted ongoing challenges with polio, measles, cholera, and Dengue fever, with a current investigation into a polio case in Dadaab Sub County.