NAIROBI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has registered about 20 million citizens as it seeks to improve promotive healthcare at the grassroots level through the use of digital technology.
Mary Muriuki, principal secretary in the Ministry of Health, said on Tuesday that the citizens have been registered by the 100,000 Community Health Promoters (CHPs) employed by the government in October 2023.
"Our target is to register all households in Kenya, but so far, we have reached about 4 million, each with an average of five people," Muriuki said during a meeting in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
She noted that the registration will facilitate the provision of preventive health services through digital technology, such as mobile phones, as the government now has citizens' data on health challenges.
Kenya, in 2023, enacted digital health and primary healthcare laws that integrate the use of technology and the CHPs to boost the provision of preventive healthcare services. CHPs focus on early diagnosis and referrals at the grassroots level to save lives and reduce the burden on health systems.
Kenya is currently grappling with a medical workers' strike that has lasted about a month as doctors, laboratory technicians, and clinical officers are pushing for higher wages.
Muriuki said the East African country would leverage digital technology to overcome challenges such as the ongoing strike in a bid to hasten universal access to healthcare.
Kenya continues to make great strides toward achieving universal health coverage, despite increasing demographic and epidemiological changes, according to the World Bank. ■
