Council of Governors Chair Ahmed Abdullahi delivers the 12th Devolution Address, outlining counties' progress in healthcare, agriculture, disaster management and public finance. [Council of Governors]
County governments have increased health funding and expanded medical infrastructure but warned that the loss of thousands of health workers threatens service delivery across the country.
Council of Governors (COG) Chair Ahmed Abdullahi, in the 12th Devolution Address on Thursday, August 6, said counties increased health allocations by 11.7 per cent to about Sh154.58 billion in the 2025/26 financial year as they stepped up efforts to strengthen Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
However, the county health workforce shrank by 26 per cent, from 149,447 to 98,907 workers, in the previous financial year following the exit of about 41,000 workers funded under United States government (USG) programmes. Of those, 28,600 were frontline healthcare workers.
The transfer of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) to the national government also contributed to the decline.
Despite the setback, counties continued recruiting clinical officers, laboratory technicians and nurses.
The report also shows that 498 doctors were released for postgraduate training while 40 per cent of those who had been pursuing postgraduate studies resumed duty during the year.
Health infrastructure also expanded, with the number of licensed public health facilities increasing from 6,649 to 6,740.