Tag: kenya
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Apr 11, 2011
Text Messages: An Essential Tool for Reaching Remote Health Workers in the Kenyan Health System
Like many sub-Saharan African countries, Kenya has a severe shortage of health workers, especially in rural and hard-to-reach areas, which makes it difficult or impossible for people in these areas to receive health care. In 2003, the Kenyan government instituted a hiring freeze for health workers in an effort to comply with the World Bank recommendation to lower the cost of wages in the health budget. In order to offer some stop-gap solutions to this dire situation, the Ministry of Health collaborated with the Capacity Project to implement an emergency hiring initiative to recruit and manage some 830 contract health workers, who were then deployed to some of most remote villages in Kenya. This work continues now under the Capacity Kenya program and has shown that effectively managing short-term hires working in many locations can lead to high operational costs. Currently, Capacity Kenya manages over 700 workers hired under the rapid hiring plan . Regular communication with these workers is essential to ensure attendance, job satisfaction, and accountability but has proven difficult, often causing frustration for both health workers and the program. For example, until... Read More » -
Feb 15, 2010
Inaugural \'Health Worker Leadership\' Award Honors Kenyan Nurse-Midwife, IntraHealth Senior Leader
Maureen Corbett (right) presents Pauline Muhuhu (left) with award In celebration of our 30 th anniversary, IntraHealth established the Pauline Muhuhu Leadership Award in 2009 to recognize health workers, or those who have spent their careers in support of health workers, who are at the heart of IntraHealth’s mission vision and work. We know that health workers, including nurses and midwives, medical officers and doctors, community health workers, lab technicians and pharmacists, are essential to any functional health system, and the tag line on our new logo reflects this— Because health workers save lives . We see this award filling a unique niche in drawing attention to health workers and the vital role they play in the health and well being of our families and communities. We have selected Pauline Wambui Muhuhu , a Kenyan nurse-midwife and longtime leader at IntraHealth, to be the first recipient, and have named the award in her honor. This annual award will recognize health workers who dedicate their careers to improving health care in underserved regions of the world. Going forward, we will establish a formal review panel to... Read More »
