By Andrew Mbuva
Public Health and Environmental Health practitioners are raising the alarm over what they describe as blatant neglect by both the National and County Governments, despite their crucial role in preventing deadly disease outbreaks.
During the election of union officials for the Makueni branch, the Union’s Secretary General Brown Ashira painted a grim picture of the state of the public health workforce in the county.
He noted that the number of officers is dwindling fast due to lack of replacements and promotions, leaving the remaining workers stretched thin and demoralized.
“We are facing a crisis. Some of our members have worked for over 15 to 20 years without a single promotion. Others retire and are never replaced. This negligence is killing our morale,” said Ashira.
Currently, Makueni County has only about 80 public health officers serving a population of approximately 1.1 million people. Ashira highlighted that this is far below the World Health Organization’s recommended ratio of one public health officer for every 6,000 people.
“The numbers don’t lie – we are severely understaffed. We’re urging the Governor to prioritize our plight by allocating a budget to hire more personnel and replace retirees,” he added.
Beyond staffing, Ashira also decried the lack of logistical support, revealing that officers are often forced to dig into their own pockets to reach communities in need.
“How are we supposed to serve the people when we aren’t even facilitated to move around? We need utility vehicles dedicated to public health,” he said.
He emphasized that despite being sidelined, public health officers have been at the forefront in the fight against major health threats such as cholera, COVID-19, and Mpox, playing a critical role in keeping communities safe.
The newly elected union officials in Makueni vowed to champion the rights of their members, push for better funding, demand fair promotions, and advocate for the recruitment of more staff to revive the ailing department.
