Partnership to Strengthen the Health Workforce

The Kenya School of Government (KSG) and Amref Health Africa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the health care workforce and systems of health workers through, training, research and consultancy.

The MoU signing which took place on Wednesday May 15, 2019 at the Kenya School of Government in Lower Kabete is aimed at enhancing cooperation between the two parties in organising and implementing capacity building programs at national, regional and international levels.

This MoU also seeks to enhance collaboration between the two institutions where KSG will draw health workers from the public sector to participate in Amref Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses and strengthen the capacity of KSG in the area of health management.

“The signing of this MoU shows Amref’s commitment to improving the lives of people through quality care delivery and equipping health workers with high-end skilled manpower. It resonates with our strategic objectives of strengthening leadership, management and governance capacities within the health systems as well as increasing the number and skills of mid-level and community level health workers,” said Dr Gitahi.

He further notes that the collaboration with KSG seeks to support the governments’ Big Four Agenda on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

“A well trained and dedicated health workforce is critical towards achieving UHC,” he posited.

Investment in Africa’s health systems is vital if the continent is to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth. The MoU reaffirms the institutions joint commitment to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals target.

“The School believes in partnerships to advance the quest to empower public officers across all sectors. The Act that established the School gives provision for such partnerships with strategic institutions in a bid to deliver on KSG mandate,” says Prof. Ludeki Chweya, Director General, KSG.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the world will be short of 12.9 million health care workers by 2035. This elucidates the need to train and educate more health workers to build their capacities. By attending CPD courses delivered by Amref and certified by KSG, health providers will have enhanced capacities in service provision and will stand a better chance for career progression. The School is a premier capacity building institution with a constitutional mandate to build capacity of public officers as well as those drawn from the private sector.

As part of the Memorandum, Amref and KSG – in partnership with the Council of Governors (CoG) – will also draw health providers, especially health leaders and managers to courses provided by Amref International University (AMIU) on Leadership, Management and Governance among others.

Through a previous partnership, in 2017 and 2018, Amref Health Africa and Glaxo Smith line (GSK) Kenya – Non Communicable Disease (NCD) Project in collaboration with Kenya School of Government, over 50 healthcare providers were trained and certified on Leadership, Management and Governance (LMG). They were drawn from Nairobi, Kilifi, Nyeri and Kakamega counties.

Additionally, in February 2019, 32 healthcare providers from Nairobi, Kilifi, Nyeri, and Kakamega counties were trained on LMG. The remaining 25 officers are yet to be trained as planned in the year.

The School has also been supporting Amref Health Africa with experienced faculty for the Supply Chain Management training of 50 healthcare providers for the Kenya GSK Program as from March 23, 2019. Likewise, KSG, in collaboration with Amref Health Africa, moderated and certified 18 students who successfully completed the Health System Strengthening Course.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Githinji Gitahi, Amref Health Africa Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) and Prof. Ludeki Chweya, Director General of the Kenya School of Government.