Only 966 foreign doctors and dentists are licensed to work in Kenya, the medical board has said.
The foreigners are assisting the insufficient number of active Kenyan doctors and dentists, who are mostly concentrated in Nairobi.
A total of 12, 636 doctors and dentists are registered in Kenya, but only 7,077 are practising the rest have gone abroad or joined other professions. Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board CEO Daniel Yumbya yesterday deplored the the “glaring” shortage of medics.
One doctor serves 6,545 Kenyans. The figure is more than six times the World Health Organization recommendation of one doctor to 1,000 people. Worse still, one dentist in Kenya, including the foreign specialists, serves 67,605 people.
Yesterday, the board released a breakdown of medics in Kenya following controversy over the government’s plans to bring in 100 Cuban doctors.
Health CS Sicily Kariuki defended the move, saying the Cuban doctors are specialists who will work in public hospitals only.
Of the 7,077 medics, only half [3,631] are in public hospitals, the rest work in private facilities. More than half of all practising Kenyan doctors and dentists [3,928] work in Nairobi.
Mombasa with 380, has the second highest number. It is followed by Uasin Gishu, which hosts the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, with 345.
Kiambu has the fourth highest number with 289 doctors, followed by Kisumu with 218. Other counties with more than 100 doctors are Nakuru ( 199 ), Machakos ( 138 ), Nyeri ( 121 ) and Meru and Kisii which both have 116.There are only six doctors in Tana River. Lamu has 17.
The United States and India, with 350 and 155 doctors, respectively, constitute the majority of foreigners practising in Kenya.
Others are from Germany ( 57 ), Britain ( 32 ), DRC ( 32 ), Burundi ( 31 ), Rwanda ( 30 ) and Egypt ( 30 ). The rest are from Uganda, Italy, Spain, Sudan, Nertherlands, Somalia, Tanzania, Pakistan, South Africa, and China.
The enya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union officials have opposed importing Cuban doctors, saying about 1,000 fresh medical graduates yet to be employed in the counties.
Kariuki said the graduates will be absorbed soon. She said the country still needs more doctors to meet the recommended doctor-patient ratio.
“Counties are in dire need of specialists. The Cuban doctors will be in the country on a two-year contract,” the CS said. -The Star