Health volunteers to get regular stipend, says PS Mochache
The Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health, Susan Mochache, has assured community health volunteers in Nyamira county that they would start receiving a regular stipend.
She said the money would come from donor funds that the ministry receives.
Mochache (below) gave the assurance while presiding over the Nyamira Declaration — which focuses on the triple threat of teenage pregnancy, HIV and Aids, and gender-based violence, which is increasing at a high rate in the country.
First-line workers
She observed that health volunteers are instrumental in local communities and villages. They are first-line care providers in preventing the triple threat on teenagers.
This is because they interact directly with teenagers when they are conducting day-to-day home visits to assess the well-being of vulnerable people.
“Our government is carrying a heavy financial burden in sustaining people living with HIV/AIDS by providing them with free medication, even though the disease is preventable. The reason we want to support health volunteers and motivate them, is to curb the three vices which are becoming unviable economically for the government,” the PS remarked.
She challenged parents to always know the whereabouts of their children because the current times are risky, and to strive to provide them basic needs so that they are not lured by immoral men. She added that some men exploit teenage girls sexually and leave them with multiple challenges in life.
“There has also been an increase in sodomy incidents on our boys. Unless parents take up their roles seriously, and have candid discussions on the dangers of not disclosing abuse done on them, they could just be suffering in silence without anyone to share their anguish with. Later, the children may be depressed and resort to abuse of drugs and other addictive substances, including bad lifestyles,” Mochache said.
The PS assured health volunteers that the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mutahi Kagwe, had directed that all the money given to the ministry by donors would be used as stipend for health volunteers. This would help appreciate their work and motivate them in their voluntary service in prevention of diseases.
Good work
The national director of Health Services, Andrew Mulwa, confirmed that his department had started laying down strategies on how the health volunteers would be motivated.
He said the volunteers continue doing good work of ensuring that citizens are healthy, take their medication promptly, and seek health services early. Also, they help communities adhere to disease preventive lifestyles, lowering the need for costly medical services.
