Kenya Health professions Oversight Authority (KHPOA) body has called upon adherence towards professionalism .
The remarks were made during the consultative meeting by the KHPOA Board of Directors and further discussed on Mapping of Unregulated Health Professionals.
The Authority initiated a mapping, verification and recognition exercise of all
unregulated health professionals and identified 42 professional cadres in the health sector. The exercise found out that only 9 regulatory bodies exist, the
remaining thirty-three (33) had no professional regulatory bodies or mechanisms in place to oversee the quality of training, practice and continuing competence.
The unregulated health professional cadres are integrated and practice in the
mainstream health care delivery system in the country.
The following are nine (9) regulatory bodies that regulate health professional
cadres established under an act of Parliament;
1. The Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council established under The
Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act, Cap 253;
2. The Clinical Officers Council established under The Clinical officers, Act
Cap 260;
3. The Nursing Council of Kenya established under The Nurses Act, Cap
257;
4. The Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians Technologists Board
established under The Medical Laboratory Technicians and
Technologists Act, Cap 253;
5. The Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority established under The Nuclear
Regulatory Act, 2019;
6. The Pharmacy and Poisons Board established under The Pharmacy and
Poison, Act Cap 244;
7. Kenya Nutritionists & Dieticians Institute established under The
Nutritionists and Dieticians Act, Cap 253B;
8. Public Health Officers and Technicians Council established under The
Public Health Officers and Technicians Act No. 12 of 2013; and
9. The Physiotherapy Council of Kenya established under The
In an effort to implement the Constitution, the Ministry of Health embarked
on the enactment of the Health Act which became effective on 20th September 2017.
The Act brings together several health-related laws to facilitate the
implementation of the Health Policy and to address several gaps in the
Health Sector, such as human resource management, emergency health
care, service delivery, coordination of health regulatory bodies and regulation of health products and technologies.
Further it also provided for the establishment of various institutions
including the Kenya Health Professions Oversight Authority (KHPOA) with
the following functions;
1. To Maintain a duplicate register of all health professionals working
within the national and county health system;
2. Promote and regulate inter-professional liaison between statutory
regulatory bodies;
3. Coordinate joint inspections with all regulatory bodies;
4. Receive and facilitate the resolution of complaints from patients,
aggrieved parties and regulatory bodies;
5. Monitor the execution of respective mandates and functions of
regulatory bodies recognized under an Act of Parliament;
6. Arbitrate disputes between statutory regulatory bodies, including
conflict or dispute resolution amongst Boards and Councils;
As at now the Authority is remaining with a total of thirteen (13) out of the 42
identified health professional cadres that were not regulated. The cadres awaiting
recognition by the Authority include;
1. Medical Microbiologists
2. Respiratory Therapists
3. Health Education and Promotion Officers
4. Occupational Health and Safety Officers
5. Medical Parasitologist
6. Sonographers
7. Cytologists/Embryologists/Andrologist
8. Physicists
9. Population Health Officers
10. Echocardiography Technologists
11. Neurophysiologists Technologists
12. Dental Hygienists
13. Clinical Perfusionists
Regulation of health professions is critical for promotion of strong and resilient
health systems for quality of care and the realization of Universal Health Coverage
(UHC). Effective regulation is expected to protect the public and maintain public
confidence in health professions and services provided while ensuring professional ethics and standards are upheld. The Authority has therefore contributed 35% towards the regulation of health professionals in the country and is continuously making strides to regulate the remaining know 37%. This will help achieve
modernization/transformation of health professional regulation in the Kenya.
The mandate of the Authority is to provide oversight in health care services;
training, registration and licensing of health professionals; coordinate joint
health inspections; receive and facilitate resolution of complaints and
arbitrate disputes and conflicts; ensure compliance of health professionals
standards and monitor execution of respective mandates and functions of
health regulatory bodies
In this regard, the authority aspires to provide effective and responsive
oversight in the regulation of healthcare services, health professions,
statutory regulatory bodies and resolution of complaints and/or conflicts for
progressive fulfilment of the right to highest attainable standard of health,
which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care to as per Article 43 (1) (a) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.
About The Author
