The National Association of Clinical Officer Anesthetists( NACOA) has decried of neglect and poor working conditions s among its members saying this will hamper the achieving of the universal health coverage .
Speaking during their national conference held in Bungoma town, NACOA chairman Fenwick Muthangya said it was very wrong that the anesthetists had for a long time been neglected and viewed as if they don’t play an integral role on health matters .
“Nobody speaks for them and yet this is a very integral part of medicine and especially surgery ,”he said.
Muthangaya said successful surgery is a very important component of achieving universal health coverage and if it is to be achieved then they cry should be heard.
The chair said they are very few anesthetist in both public and health facilities with most of them concentrated in urban areas.
“Many people have been forced to go for surgery very far away despite the fact that they minor surgeries just because some of this facilities have no anesthetists ,a matter that could be resolved by employing more of them ,”He said
He called on the county government s to invest in education of anesthetists in the major facilities .
“They are a lot of new trends emerging in the field of anesthesia and if counties will not invest in ensuring that they take their staff to frequent trainings they will realize they are left behind in the modern medicine and trends ,”said Muthangaya.
He said his organization had started a conversation with the county governments to ensure that they work towards empowering their anesthetists to ensure universal health coverage is achieved.
Dr Kituyi Werunga of the Moi teaching and referral hospital while speaking at the same function said anesthesia is a field that cannot t be ignored saying even the best surgeons in the world depend on them during surgery.
“It is unfortunate that in this country anesthetists are not taken as serious as in developed countries yet they are very crucial in the field medicine.They are as crucial as the surgeons who do the surgery ,”he said
He said having worked with most of them he realized their moral is down despite this fact because of poor remunerations among other poor working conditions .
He said there was need to ensure that just like any other medical practitioners their interests are catered for to ensure proper service delivery
Source Newstimes