Cuban doctors follow proceedings during their induction programme at the
Kenya School of Government on June 11, 2018 in Nairobi. AFP PHOTO |
SIMON MAINA
Summary
- The doctors will take home a total of Sh563 million in salaries annually
- The Sh1 billion also includes an allocation of Sh238 million that has been set aside for training of 50 Kenyan doctors
- Kenyan medics argue that their foreign counterparts were single sourced to the disadvantage of local practitioners.
The Treasury has allocated Sh1 billion to cater for salaries and
other benefits due to the 110 Cuban doctors, who started arriving in
the country early this month.
The doctors will take
home a total of Sh563 million in salaries annually, according to a
breakdown presented to the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations
Committee (BAC).
“The committee was informed that the
project is a bilateral agreement between Kenya and Cuba and has an
allocation of Sh1,001,922,000,” Kimani Ichung’wa, who chairs BAC, says
in a report on the budget estimates for the 2018/19 financial year.
It
was not, however, possible to determine whether this is a full-year
budget for the Cuban doctors or an initial budget that will benefit from
additional allocation in supplementary budgets.
The Cuban doctors project in Kenya
| Remuneration | 110 | 563,000,000 |
| A two-year post graduate training in Cuba | 5 | 238,000,000 |
| One year diploma course in KMTC | 100,922,000 | |
| Malaria vector program | 100,000,000 | |
| Total | 1,001,922,000 |
Kenyan doctors' training
The
Sh1 billion also includes an allocation of Sh238 million that has been
set aside for training of 50 Kenyan
doctors for a two-year postgraduate course in Family Medicine in Cuba.
doctors for a two-year postgraduate course in Family Medicine in Cuba.
Besides, a one-year
diploma course in Family Medicine at the Kenya Medical Training College
(KMTC) has been allocated Sh100,922,000 and a further Sh100 million has
been allocated for Malaria Vector Control Programme.
The last batch of doctors arrived last Thursday with the first lot having jetted into the country on June 5.
Their
arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) marks the
culmination of a deal signed between Kenya and Cuba for the deployment
of 100 specialist doctors in local hospitals.
Contracting of the medics has, however, caused outcry from local
doctors, who have opposed the move arguing that expertise being
imported is readily available in Kenya.
The Cuban
medics are undergoing training at the Kenya School of Government where
they will be inducted into the local healthcare system.
Dr
Rashid Aman, the chief administrative secretary at the Ministry of
Health, said the doctors are being trained on how the Kenyan healthcare
system works before being deployed to public health facilities across
the country.
Local counterparts
After
the training, the foreign medics will be introduced to their local
counterparts working in stations where they have been deployed.
‘The
main idea in bringing these specialists is to learn from the Cuban
experience in building a robust primary and curative healthcare system
that has afforded the country universal health care,’ Dr Aman said
adding that Kenya would send 50 local doctors to Cuba to be trained in
family medicine.
The team will comprise one doctor from each of the 47 counties.
The
Cuban specialists arrived in Kenya at a time when a Kenyan doctors had
filed a petition in court seeking to stop the government from licensing
them to practise in local clinics.
Kenyan medics argue that their foreign counterparts were single sourced to the disadvantage of local practitioners.
The
petition filed by one Samson Robert Misango said argues that there has
been no evidence that Kenya has a shortage of doctors to fill any
vacancies in the public health system.
The Ministry of Health has yet to advertise any such vacancies, making their existence questionable.
The Health ministry has previously said that a shortage of up to 42,800 health workers stands in Kenya’s journey to realis
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