Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union(KEHPHPU) Secretary General Brown Ashira Olaly has warned that chronic underfunding, severe staff shortages and poor working conditions are weakening Kenya's public and environmental health systems, saying the country risks more frequent healthcare crises unless the government shifts its focus toward preventive healthcare and recruits more frontline workers.
Speaking on Radio Generation on Monday, Olaly said Kenya's health sector has for years struggled with inadequate investment, leaving public health practitioners overwhelmed while millions of Kenyans continue to face challenges accessing quality healthcare.
He argued that environmental health officers and other frontline public health professionals play a critical role in preventing disease outbreaks but remain understaffed and under-resourced despite growing health challenges across the country.
"We are seriously understaffed. We do not have enough healthcare workforce in this country," Olaly said, adding that the shortage has placed enormous pressure on existing staff and affected service delivery in health facilities nationwide.
According to him, Kenya should invest more resources in disease prevention instead of focusing overwhelmingly on curative healthcare.
"As a public health practitioner, we only got a paltry Sh13.1 billion. We are talking about prevention. What can that kind of money do?" he posed while referring to the current budget allocation for preventive healthcare.
Olaly said increasing investment in public health would strengthen disease surveillance, improve sanitation services and reduce the burden on hospitals by preventing illnesses before they occur.
He also called for increased recruitment of healthcare workers, saying existing personnel are overstretched, particularly in emergency and casualty departments.
"Most Kenyans are dying at casualty because our healthcare workforce are overwhelmed," he said. "We need to employ more healthcare workers if we want better health outcomes."
The union official argued that healthcare should receive funding comparable to other key sectors such as education and security, noting that sustained investment in health is essential for economic growth.
"When somebody is sick, they cannot be productive. We need to invest in health the same way we invest in education and security because those are the sectors that drive the economy," he said.
Olaly further criticized the country's failure to meet the continental target of allocating at least 15 percent of the national budget to health under the Abuja Declaration, saying current funding remains far below that benchmark.
He also urged the government to strengthen preventive healthcare systems by improving staffing, financing community health programmes and enhancing disease surveillance to detect outbreaks early.
Olaly maintained that dialogue remains the best way to resolve the health sector's challenges, saying the government should prioritize meaningful engagement with healthcare unions while making long-term investments in preventive healthcare, workforce expansion and stronger public health systems.
The remarks come as healthcare services across the country remain disrupted by an ongoing nationwide nurses' strike over unresolved labour grievances, including delayed implementation of collective bargaining agreements, promotions, career progression and the absorption of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers into permanent and pensionable terms.
The industrial action has compounded pressure on already stretched public health facilities.