LONDON, England, Jul 29- Unemployed nurses and health workers from Kenya will have the chance to work in the UK as part of a new scheme requested by the Government of Kenya and launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta on July 29, during his visit to London.
In a programme to share knowledge and expertise, Kenyan health professionals and health managers will benefit from a special route to work in the UK, before returning to work in Kenya’s health sector.
The agreement is open to Kenya’s surplus health workers who are qualified but unemployed, ensuring the process is managed for Kenya’s benefit, the UK Embassy in Kenya said in a statement.
UK Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Labour Cooperation, Simon Chelugi, signed the agreement on Kenyan recruitment into the UK’s National Health Service.
It came on the third day of President Kenyatta’s visit to London, on a tour of the Royal College of Physicians in London. The special programme came at the request of the Government of Kenya to channel nurses currently unemployed into jobs.
The President also witnessed the signing of the Kenya-UK Health Alliance, which will bring together UK and Kenyan institutions – universities, teaching hospitals – cooperating on health partnerships.
One of the flagship partnerships is on improving cancer treatment for Kenyans, thanks to a tie-up between Kenyatta University Teaching Research and Referral Hospital and the University of Manchester/Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
It will help improve prevention and management of cancer in Kenya, and promote Kenya a regional hub for cancer treatment.
“0ur health partnership with Kenya is 30 years old and growing stronger by the month. This new agreement on health workers allows us to share skills and expertise even further, and is a fantastic opportunity for Kenyans to work in the UK,” Jane Marriott, the British High Commissioner to Kenya, said.
“From COVID-19 vaccines and genomic sequencing, to exchanges on cancer research and treatment to help Kenya treatment more cancer patients at home, the UK has a long and proud history of support for Kenya’s health sector. The signing of the Kenya-UK Health Alliance by President Kenyatta on his visit to the UK is the latest chapter in our flourishing partnership.”
The UK’s Secretary of State for Health said, “We have a historic and mutually respectful relationship with Kenya. This has been strengthened by working closely with Kenya during the pandemic and sharing UK vaccine doses to support Kenya’s fight against COVID-19.
“Our healthcare agreement will make the most of UK and Kenyan health expertise which will be beneficial to both countries, with the exchange of knowledge and training which will provide first class healthcare.”
The exact numbers who will go to the UK – and the process for visas – will be confirmed in the next three months.
Kenya and UK have a mutual agreement for health workforce collaboration that provides for bilateral knowledge exchange and capacity improvement. Both countries seek to benefit from each other’s experiences and comparative strengths in healthcare.
It comes after a flurry of announcements of UK support for Kenya’s COVID-19 response, “as part of our flourishing Health Partnership”, signed by the UK’s Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mutahi Kagwe, during a visit to Nairobi in January 2021.
On July 28, Prime Minister Johnson confirmed the donation of 817,000 COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine doses for Kenya – half a bilateral donation, and half a UK donation through the COVAX facility – while earlier this month we announced new support on genomic sequencing with KEMRI to tackle emerging COVID-19 variants.
Kenyan and British scientists at KEMRI and Oxford University were closely involved in the development of the AstraZeneca vaccine, through trials of the vaccine through KEMRI Kilifi.
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