Task sharing and task shifting: optimizing the primary health care workforce for improved delivery of noncommunicable disease services in Kenya
Responding to the NCD burden for Kenya requires a restructuring of the health system. The burden of NCDs continues to rise and hinders the country’s universal health coverage ambitions. It was reported that in 2019, over one third of all deaths in Kenya were attributable to NCDs. Four major NCDs, that is cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, accounted for 57% of these deaths.
Controlling NCDs involves providing promotive, preventative, curative and palliative health services throughout the life cycle. Weak health systems and those structured around infectious or communicable diseases cannot adequately provide these services, given the chronic nature of NCDs and their long-term reliance on the health system. As such, the entire health system needs to be restructured to move from just providing acute episodic care to integrate a continuum of NCD services delivered over time.