Naivasha: The Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union has called on the government to urgently recruit more public health officers and technicians to strengthen disease surveillance systems across the country. The union warned that years of delayed recruitment have created critical gaps in community-level health services, raising the risk of a public health crisis if immediate action is not taken.
According to Kenya News Agency, speaking during the first National Public Health Leadership Summit held in Naivasha, the Union’s National General Secretary, Brown Ashira, highlighted that the failure to employ new officers for over 15 years has severely weakened grassroots health systems. Ashira noted that the last major recruitment of public health officers occurred before the advent of devolution, leaving counties understaffed and ill-equipped to effectively monitor and respond to emerging health threats.
‘The union calls for the urgent recruitment of more public health officers and technicians. The current shortage is untenable and exposes communities to preventable health risks,’ said Ashira. He further accused the Ministry of Health of prioritizing curative services at the expense of preventive and promotive health, arguing that this imbalance undermines long-term health outcomes.
Ashira also raised concerns about the failure to replace ageing and retiring officers, warning that the situation could soon paralyse disease surveillance efforts at the grassroots level. Additionally, he criticized the deployment of non-public health professionals to oversee key programmes such as school health and tuberculosis control, insisting that such roles should be reserved for trained and qualified practitioners. ‘These programmes require technical expertise that only certified public health officers can provide. Assigning unqualified personnel compromises service delivery and endangers lives,’ he added.
Kakamega County Director of Public Health, William Olaka, echoed the union’s concerns, emphasizing the urgent need to recruit more qualified personnel to bridge existing gaps. Olaka also called for stricter enforcement against unregistered practitioners operating without licences, noting that their activities pose significant risks to public safety. ‘We must crack down on illegal practice to protect the integrity of the profession and safeguard the health of our communities,’ he said. He further warned that sidelining trained public health officers from school health programmes could undermine the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving child health and hygiene standards.
Peter Mwaziwe, representing the Registrar of the Public Health Officers and Technicians Council, underscored the importance of registration and licensing of all practicing officers. He cautioned that individuals operating without valid licences risk being barred from practice, urging county governments to enforce compliance with professional standards.
Meanwhile, the Association of Public Health Officers Kenya, through its Secretary General Dr. Mohamed Duba, opposed proposed amendments to the Tobacco Control Act. Duba argued that the proposed changes would remove technical personnel from the law’s oversight structure, weakening enforcement mechanisms. ‘Public health officers are the primary enforcers of the Tobacco Control Act. Excluding technical experts from the board will undermine implementation. We urge the Parliamentary Health Committee to reject the proposed bill if these concerns are not addressed,’ said Duba.
At the same event, Dr. Stephen Muleshe, Director of Public Health at the Ministry of Health, acknowledged the critical role played by public health and environmental officers in disease detection, prevention, and health promotion. He assured stakeholders that the Ministry is implementing comprehensive health sector reforms and that public health professionals will be actively involved in shaping policies to strengthen the sector.
