Health functions should be taken back to National Government, says medic.

Consultant Orthopaedic   Surgeon Dr. James Obondi at his office in Kisumu.He has said the health functions devolved to counties should be taken back to the national Government-Photo By Dickson Odhiambo

By Dickson Odhiambo

September 5, 2018.

Health functions should be taken back to National Government, says medic.

THE Devolved health functions to counties should be reverted back to the National Government, a medic has said.

Dr. James Obondi says since health was devolved in the year 2013 when devolution was ushered in after that year’s General Election nothing meaningful has been achieved.

Dr. Obondi says the health functions are better off when at the national Government and not under counties.

He says the county Governments have no capacity to hand the health functions.

The medic claims that a lot of nepotism as well as cases of corruption have been witnessed within various counties in regard to the management of health services hence these cannot make health function to be successful at the counties level.

“A lot of nepotism issues as well as corruption has been seen at the county level especially on the issue of employment of staff at the health department where nepotism has taken center stage,” Dr. Obondi says.

He says if health function is taken back to national level then the issue of national Cohesion and Integration will be realized, adding that doctors and nurses will be employed at random at the national level without the issue of nepotism.

“Doctors are not supposed to be confined within their ethnicity so to make people to integrate well then one has to do the normal way of employment where the doctors are employed at random,” Dr. Obondi adds.

Obondi is of the view that the money being generated by the Referral Hospitals within counties should be taken back to such facilities so as to help in their prudent management.

The medic says there is no need for medical equipment to be brought at the county governments yet no enough staff to operate them.

Obondi says even promotion of the medics have now stagnated since the ushering of devolution in the year 2013.

Obondi’s sentiments comes barely a few days after Public Accounts Committee led by its Chairman opiyo Wandayi visited two health facilities in Kisumu County so as to see the progress made so far in regard to the managed Equipment Schemes which were given to the health facilities within county Governments.

The committee suggests that the National Government should channel more funds to the County Governments to carter for the devolved health services at the County Level.

It says the division of revenue between the National Government and the Counties needs to be reviewed to give health sector more money to the counties.

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