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A new 18-month, $20.5 million project will strengthen Kenya’s health systems at the national and county levels, better allowing the country’s health workers to provide consistent, high-quality care to more Kenyans.
Through the Human Resources for Health (HRH) Capacity Bridge Project, IntraHealth International will work with Kenya’s government to finalize the second Kenya HRH Strategy and to meet some of its key health sector milestones. These include transitioning 837 health workers to the national payroll and transforming the country’s HR data management system into one that all counties can use and build on.
For over 30 years, IntraHealth has partnered with the government of Kenya to reach a very ambitious goal: to help the country build and manage the health workforce it needs to provide health care to all of its people.
Kenya has celebrated some health care successes in the past decade, including declines in infant mortality and fertility. But its population remains vulnerable.
HIV/AIDS, maternal health dangers, and lower respiratory conditions remain top causes of death. Non-communicable diseases are on the rise.
And the country has a severe shortage of health workers, particularly in remote areas.
Exacerbating these issues are the many changes brought on by extensive health sector reform, which was put in motion by Kenya’s constitution in 2010. Health care is now managed at the county level, rather than centralized at the national level.
But while the reforms help address Kenya’s diverse population and varied health needs, they’ve also brought huge administrative challenges for counties.
Through this new project, IntraHealth will provide technical assistance to counties throughout Kenya, helping to improve human resources management, establish HRH policies and guidelines, and ensure county health workers are productive, motivated, and retained.
The project will also provide technical support to counties as they establish effective data management systems and improve the quality of their data. IntraHealth’s open source iHRIS software will help Kenya’s counties to better track and manage their health workforce data—and to use those data to track, plan, and advocate for increased budget allocation for their health workforces.
“The new HRH Capacity Bridge Project comes at a critical transition time in the management of health care in Kenya as devolution takes root and more services are devolved to the counties,” says James Macharia, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Health. “One such aspect is human resources. It is important that as we devolve, we do not compromise service delivery to our people. I am happy that the project will be supporting county governments to plan for their human resources, thus giving the counties a platform to improve their HR management systems.”
The project will run from April 2014 to September 2015. Meshack Ndolo, IntraHealth’s Kenya country director and chief of party, and Janet Muriuki, deputy chief of party, will lead the project.
The Human Resources for Health Capacity Bridge Project is funded by the US Agency for International Development and will build on the work of IntraHealth’s Capacity Kenya Project (2009-2014).
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