Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o has opposed the move to release the Cuban doctors currently offering services in the country, saying that would jeopardize health services.
“Where are you taking away the Cuban doctors yet the sole purpose why we brought them here was to alleviate our shortage, especially of specialist doctors like oncologists,” queried Nyong’o.
Nyong’o expressed disappointment with the decision since prior steps were not taken first to train local doctors who would replace the Cuban doctors.
“They have whisked away the Cuban doctors without informing the County governments; the National Government has not informed the Counties who will assume their roles but most importantly, Kenya has not trained adequate specialists in such fields,” stated Nyong’o.
Nyong’o pointed out that it would have been in order for the National Government to consult with the County government of Kisumu prior to making such a decision, especially on recruiting specialists to take over the roles of the Cuban doctors.
“Our mandate on health as the County government is to take care of the health of the citizens while that of the national government is to train the health practitioners that are tasked with that job; we had agreed that we need the Cuban doctors because we lack qualified doctors in some of the specializations like oncology,” he added.
The Governor expressed displeasure with the National government on the move, pointing that Kenyans suffer from conditions that depend on the expertise of such specialists.
“Dr Rai came to my house early in the morning complaining that he has a long queue of cancer patients that need attention and others with such like conditions like kidney problems too and that’s why we are telling the government that they made a wrong move on sending away the Cuban doctors,” decried Nyong’o.
