MINISTRY OF HEALTH

KENYA
COMMUNITY HEALTH

POLICY
2020 - 2030
 MINISTRY OF HEALTH

KENYA
COMMUNITY HEALTH

POLICY
2020 - 2030
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CONTENTS
FOREWORD..................................................................................................................... v
PREFACE ......................................................................................................................... vi
ACKNOWLEDEMENTS................................................................................................... vii
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL................................................................ viii
ACRONYMS.................................................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background and Rationale for the Policy...................................................................... 1
1.2 Community Health Approach......................................................................................... 1
1.3 Health Indicators.............................................................................................................. 2
1.4 Legal and Policy Context.................................................................................................. 3
1.4.1 Constitution of Kenya............................................................................................. 3
1.4.2 Kenya Vision 2030................................................................................................... 3
1.4.3 Second Medium-Term Plan, 2013 – 2017............................................................. 4
1.4.4 Kenya Health Policy 2014 – 2030........................................................................... 4
1.4.5 Kenya Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan 2014 – 2018..................... 5
1.5 Global Health Commitments........................................................................................... 5
1.6 Guiding Principles............................................................................................................. 6
1.7 The Policy Development Process.................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER 2: POLICY OBJECTIVES................................................................................... 8
2.1 Policy Goal......................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Policy Objectives............................................................................................................... 8
2.2.1 General Objective.................................................................................................... 8
2.2.2 Specific Policy Objectives........................................................................................ 8
CHAPTER 3: DETAILED POLICY OBJECTIVES................................................................ 10
3.1 Leadership and Governance of Community Health Services................................... 10
3.1.1 The Community Health Unit (CHU)..................................................................... 10
3.1.2 Governance of Community Health Services...................................................... 12
Community Health Committee (CHC)................................................................................... 12
Sub-County Health Management Team............................................................................... 12
County Health Management Team....................................................................................... 13
National Government............................................................................................................ 13
3.2 Community Health Workforce....................................................................................... 14
3.2.1 Community Health Assistants / Officers............................................................. 14
3.2.2 Community Health Volunteers (CHV).................................................................. 15

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3.3 Community Health Service Delivery............................................................................. 17
3.3.1 Service packages................................................................................................... 17
3.3.2 Referral Services.................................................................................................... 23
3.4 Community Based Health Information System (CHIS)............................................... 24
3.4.1 Definition of a Community Based Health Information System (CHIS)............ 24
3.4.2 Process for setting up a Community Health Information System (CHIS)....... 24
3.4.3 Quality of Community Health Data..................................................................... 24
3.5 Community Health Products and Technologies......................................................... 24
3.6 Financing for Community Health Services.................................................................. 24
3.7 Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Community-based Surveillance.................. 25
3.7.1 Monitoring, and Evaluation (M&E)...................................................................... 25
3.7.2 Research................................................................................................................. 26
CHAPTER 4: PARTNERSHIP AND COORDINATION..................................................... 27
4.1 Coordination................................................................................................................... 27
Community level..................................................................................................................... 27
Sub-county level...................................................................................................................... 27
County level.............................................................................................................................27
National level..........................................................................................................................27
4.2 Partnerships.................................................................................................................... 28
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................. 30

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FOREWORD
The Kenya community health policy gives
guidance in line with the global commitments,
vision 2030, Kenya constitution 2010, and
the country’s universal health coverage
agenda as part of the presidential Big
4 agenda. This policy is designed to be
comprehensive and focuses on the two
key obligations of health: realization of
fundamental human rights including the right
to health as enshrined in the constitution of
Kenya 2010 and; contribution to economic
development as envisioned in Vision 2030.
It focuses on ensuring equity, people
centeredness and a participatory approach,
efficiency, a multisectoral approach, and social
accountability in the delivery of healthcare
services.

This policy aims to achieve its objectives

by streamlining the implementation of
community health services by having in place
leadership and coordination structures, credible human resources for community
health, financing, efficient supply of commodities, community-based surveillance, and
monitoring, evaluation and research to provide evidence and strengthening referral
mechanisms.

The policy was developed through a consultative process involving all stakeholders
including government ministries, departments and agencies; clients, counties,
constitutional bodies, development partners (multilateral and bilateral) and
implementing partners.

It is my sincere hope that under the devolved system of government, this community
health services policy will be a great resource in providing a framework in the
implementation and uptake of community health services. With this policy in place, I
expect a more robust and well-coordinated community health program in the country.

Cabinet Secretary
Ministry of Health

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PREFACE


Dr. Rashid A. Aman BPharm., PhD Dr. Mercy Mukui Mwangangi

The goal of this policy is to empower individuals, families and communities to attain the
highest possible standard of health. Specifically, the policy focuses on strengthening
community health service across all the health domains.

The policy will ensure effective leadership and governance in the formation,
maintenance, and management of community health structures and participation
mechanisms, recruitment and retention of community health human resources for
health, including obtaining appropriate numbers and strengthening mechanisms for
capacity building and supportive supervision.

Additionally, the policy will ensure provision of high-quality community health services
at the household and community level, including referral and follow-up services.
It will also support the development and strengthening of community-based health
information system (CBHIS) and the monitoring and evaluation of systems to sufficiently
inform the implementation of community services at all levels.

Furthermore, the policy will help promote and strengthen supply chain systems for
community health that are integrated into the government-led reporting systems and
link-facilities including the use of available technology. Besides, it will help provide
various mechanisms for mobilising, managing, and appropriately allocating resources
for sustainable financing and delivery of community health services at all levels.

Finally, this policy provides a framework for community health services and human
resources data, and knowledge management which will inform evidence-driven
decision making. It is my hope that all players in community health space in Kenya will
embrace and implement this policy.

Chief Administrative Secretary Chief Administrative Secretary

Ministry of Health Ministry of Health

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The community health policy has been developed through
a consultative and participatory approach that included
many partners and stakeholders involved in community
health services. The content development process was
rigorous and thorough with a lot of input and feedback
for consensus building.

To all those who participated and made contributions

towards the development of this policy, we are greatly
indebted and thankful to you.

Our gratitude will be incomplete if we do not mention a

few of those who participated and steered the process:
We are greatly indebted to UNICEF Kenya Country
office for both technical and financial support during
the process of developing this policy, Council of Governors for making it possible for
Governors, County Executive Committee members, County Directors of Health, and
County Community Health focal persons to participate in various meetings, and other
stakeholders for their great effort and contribution.

Finally, I would like to mention a few individuals who made exceptional contribution to
the development of this policy. They include Dr. Salim Hussein, Head Department of
Primary Health Care, Dr. Eunice Omesa, Head, Division of Community Health, Mr Daniel
Kavoo, Ms Diane Kamar, Mr Francis Ndwiga, Ms Charity Tauta, Mr. John Wanyungu, all
of MoH and Ms Rose Njiraini of UNICEF. An additional list of contributors is annexed.

Special thanks and gratitude to the senior management of the Ministry of Health under
the leadership of Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki (Mrs) EGH for creating an enabling
environment for the implementation of community health services.

Principal Secretary
Ministry of Health

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MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL
Community health services program has been
implemented in Kenya since 2006. We have had two
strategic plans to guide how the program is implemented.
The 2006 strategic plan focused on; providing level 1
services for all, building the capacity of the community
health extension workers (CHEWs), strengthening
health facility–community linkages and strengthening
the community to progressively realize their rights for
accessible and quality care.

The second strategic plan covered the period 2014 – 2019

and focused on; strengthening the delivery of integrated,
comprehensive, and quality community health services
for all population cohorts, strengthening community
structures and systems for effective implementation of community health actions and
services at all levels, strengthening data demand and information use at all levels and
strengthening mechanisms for resource mobilization and management for sustainable
implementation of community health services.

Throughout this period, the country has not had a policy on community health to guide
programming of community health services in the country. This policy is therefore the
first of its kind and covers the period 2020 – 2030. With this policy in place, we expect
to see better leadership and governance of community health services, more equitable
community health workforce, robust community health services delivery in line with the
country’s universal health coverage agenda and a stronger and responsive community
health information system. Additionally, we expect more investment in community
health services by both national and county governments, and their partners with
sustainable supply of community health commodities.

Ag. Director General

Ministry of Health

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ACRONYMS
CBOs Community Based Organisations
CHA Community Health Assistant
CHEW Community Health Extension Worker
CHO Community Health Officer
CBHIS Community Based Health Information System
CHMT County Health Management Team
CHS Community Health Strategy
CHU Community Health Unit
CHV Community Health Volunteer
CPR Contraceptive Prevalence Rate
CSOs Civil Society Organisations
HRH Human Resources for Health
ICC Inter-agency Coordination Committees
KDHS Kenya Demographic Health Survey
KEPH Kenya Essential Package for Health
KHSSP Kenya Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan
MOH Ministry of Heath
MTP Medium Term Plan
NCD Non-communicable diseases
PHC Primary Health Care
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
TFR Total Fertility Rate
WHO World Health Organisation
UHC Universal Health Coverage

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background and Rationale for the Policy
Globally, the community health approach has been recognised as an effective way
for making improvements in health care delivery as well as addressing heavy burden
of disease and therefore contributing to the health and socioeconomic development
[1,2]. The community health approach was a key pillar of the Primary Health Care (PHC)
approach adopted by countries in 1978 through the Alma Ata declaration [3]. Kenya
developed a PHC approach in 1980, but was focused primarily on healthcare facilities,
with little community participation. A 2004 evaluation of the Kenya Health Policy
Framework reported an overall decline in health-related indicators, despite increased
funding to the health sector. As a consequence, Kenya developed the community health
strategy (CHS) in 2006 both as a commitment to global health goals and to support
the achievement of the Second National Health Sector Strategic Plan (2005-2010),
whose goal was to reverse declining health indicator trends [4]. An assessment of the
CHS in 2010 noted that while the strategy had achieved some success in guiding the
implementation of community health services, its implementation experienced several
challenges that needed to be addressed. The findings of the assessment, together
with an overall change in the legal, policy and institutional framework governing the
health sector following the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya in 2010, and
a situational analysis done in 2015, highlighted the need for a clear policy direction,
informed the MOH decision to develop a community health policy to provide direction
for the establishment of quality community health services in Kenya.

1.2 Community Health Approach

The community health approach is based on the Primary Health Care (PHC) concept
that focuses on the principles of equity, community participation, intersectoral action
and appropriate technology and a decentralised role played by the health system.

Kenya being a signatory member of the UN, is committed to achievement of SDG

goal 3 on ensuring good health and well-being for all by the year 2030. SDG target 3.8
spells out the need to achieve Universal Health Coverage that includes financial risk
protection, access to quality essential health services, medicines and vaccines for all.

Experience revealed that the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

required countries to engage in partnerships to facilitate implementation and support
active community participation in programmes aimed at achievement of MDG targets.

In addition to recognition of community health approaches as a means of delivering

health for all, Kenya’s deteriorating health indicators necessitated the development of
a strategy to bring services to the household level and reverse the declining trends in
health indicators. This was articulated within the second National Health Sector Strategic

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Plan (NHSSP) officially launched in 2005 [4]. The Kenyan Community Health Strategy
(CHS) [5] was therefore launched in 2006 as a means to deliver the Kenya Essential
Package for Health (KEPH) defined in the Second Strategic Plan. The KEPH introduced
six-level cohort levels of health service provision, with level 1 being the Community
Unit [6] and level 6 being referral hospitals. It has since then been restructured under
the latest Kenya Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan (KHSSP) in a five-life cycle
cohort model to correspond with the devolved four tier health services delivery model.

The 2006 strategy was revised in 2013 to reflect devolution of health services. Under the
revised strategy (2014 - 2019), counties are responsible for delivering health services
and implementing health programmes including community health.

Kenya is currently implementing Universal Health Coverage in line with sustainable

development goal 3 on ensuring good health and well-being for all. Primary health care
and community health have been identified as the implementation strategy towards
realizing UHC.

A detailed evaluation on Community health services in 2018 showed that there were
6,087 Community Units (CHUs) out of an expected 10,375 CHUs leaving a gap of 4,292
(41%). This means that the current coverage of community health services in Kenya is
59%. Ten counties were documented to be at 90% or above with four counties1, (Isiolo,
Kitui, Nyeri, Tharaka Nithi) being at 100% coverage. Kakamega, Homabay and Siaya
counties were documented to be at 99% coverage. Nineteen counties were reported to
be at a coverage range of 50% to 89% and eighteen counties were at a coverage below
50%. Lowest coverage was reported in Laikipia, Mombasa, Nandi and Wajir counties all
at 17% and Bomet county at 19%.

On community health personnel, it was documented that Kenya has 1,569 community
health assistants (CHAs) compared to the expected 10,379 CHAs, leaving a gap of
8,810 (85%). On community health volunteers (CHVs), the country currently has 86,025
out of an expected 103,783 CHVs giving a gap of 17,763 (17%). However, the CHVs
documented here were not verified as active or functional.

1.3 Health Indicators

Kenya continues to face numerous public health problems, mainly relating to
maternal health and child mortality, communicable diseases, and, increasingly, non-
communicable diseases. Health indicators vary considerably across counties and
income quintiles. Life expectancy is 59 years for men and 62 for women [7].

Kenya has made significant progress in improving certain indicators, but still lags in
other areas. For instance, between the 2003 and 2014 (KDHS), under-five mortality
declined from 115 to 52 per 1,000 live births, with the infant mortality rate dropping
from 77 to 39 per 1,000 live births [8,9]. The percentage of fully immunized children
rose from 57 to 79% over the same period [10].

1 This information was collected prior to universal health coverage activities towards community health services

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On the other hand, much slower progress has been reported across maternal indicators.
The maternal mortality ratio, for instance, only reduced from 414 to 362 per 100,000
live births between 2003 and 2014 [11]. The unmet need for family planning is also
still relatively high at 17% for married women and 26% for sexually active unmarried
women [12]. While significant strides have been made in the fight against HIV and AIDS
and malaria, Kenya ranks 13th on the list of 22 high-burden TB countries in the world
and has the fifth highest burden in Africa [13].

Overall, infectious diseases remain a major problem. Pneumonia, malaria and diarrheal
diseases are the top three leading causes of under-five mortality. Poor sanitation
and hygiene, inadequate water supply, environmental factors and malnutrition have
contributed to the rise in communicable diseases.

At the household level, improved knowledge and increased access to quality health
care services, especially among the marginalised, people living with disability, the
vulnerable and high-risk populations could have positive impacts. Improvement in
health across the life cycle would release households’ resources for investment in other
areas, thereby reducing poverty and enhancing the quality of life. Thus, public health,
human rights, and poverty alleviation concerns all point to a need to better meet the
health needs of the people in Kenya.

1.4 Legal and Policy Context

1.4.1 Constitution of Kenya
The Constitution gives every Kenyan a right to the highest attainable standard of health
(including reproductive health), and emphasizes that no person should be denied
access to emergency treatment (Article 43) [14]. Articles 53-57 emphasize on human
dignity and stipulate attention to the needs and rights of all, with special emphasis
on children, persons with disabilities, youth, minorities and marginalized groups, and
older members of the society and ensuring that health services are made accessible to
all. Article 174 further recognizes the right of communities to manage their own affairs
and to further their development and protects & promotes the rights of minorities and
marginalized communities. It also provides for the promotion of social and economic
development and the provision of proximate easily accessible services in Kenya. Health
being a devolved function the role of the National government is articulated in Schedule
4 of the Constitution which includes development of policy and standards, information
management, Capacity building and technical assistance to counties.

1.4.2 Kenya Vision 2030

Vision 2030 is Kenya’s development blueprint, with the aim of turning the country into a
globally competitive and industrialized middle income country by 2030 [15]. The vision
identifies economic, social and political pillars to drive the country towards realizing the
goal. The first flagship project under Health in Vision 2030 is to “Revitalise Community
Health Centres to promote preventive health care (as opposed to curative) and by
promoting healthy individual lifestyles”. Two approaches identified as key in pushing

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the agenda of an efficient and high-quality health care system are (i) devolution of
funds and management to the communities and counties, and (ii) shifting the bias of
national health from curative to preventive. This implies that Community Health sits at
the centre of Vision 2030’s priority areas.

1.4.3 Second Medium-Term Plan, 2013 – 2017

The second Medium Term Plan (MTP), 2013 - 2017 (MTP) identified key policy actions,
reforms, and programmes that the Government will implement between 2013 and
2017, key Vision 2030 priorities and the constitution. Devolution is a central feature
in the plan. MTP emphasized the plan for countrywide scale-up of Community High
Impact interventions, including MNCH, strengthening CHA capacity, strengthened
linkages to facilities, strengthen community awareness of health rights and accelerating
interventions targeting MNCH and sanitation.

A review of the second MTP indicated that there has been good progress in scaling up
of community health services during the period 2013 - 2017. Some counties have built
that cover the whole population in the county or at least 80%.

The network of National, county and other stakeholders contributes to community

health investments.

On treatment, a study conducted in Homabay and Siaya by KEMRI supported by UNICEF

and the county governments, showed that with proper support and supervision,
CHVs are able to diagnose, manage and treat pneumonia at the community level .
This is a significant finding to that implications on the policy direction of the roles and
responsibilities of CHVs.

1.4.4 Kenya Health Policy 2014 – 2030

The main aim of the policy is to realize the priorities and flagship projects in Vision
2030, and to move towards making the right to health by all Kenyans a reality [15]. The
Policy’s primary goal is attainment of Universal Health Coverage and access to essential
health services that positively contribute to improved health. The policy identifies
six objectives namely, eliminating communicable diseases, halting and reversing the
rising burden of communicable diseases and mental disorders, reducing the burden
of violence and injuries, providing essential healthcare, minimizing exposure to health
risk factors, and strengthening collaboration with other sectors that have an impact on
health.

The policy defines the four tiers of the health system as community, primary care,
primary referral and tertiary referral services. Tier one, comprises of the community
unit, identified as the first level of health services provision. This should focus on creating
appropriate demand for services, while primary care and referral services will focus
on responding to this demand. In addition, the policy says that the community units
should facilitate individuals, households and communities to carry out appropriate
healthy behaviours, recognize signs and symptoms of conditions requiring health care
and facilitate community diagnosis, management & referral.

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 1.4.5 Kenya Health Sector Strategic and Investment
Plan 2014 – 2018
The Kenya Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan (KHSSP) 2014 – 2018 forms the
guidance for allocation of resources in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, and
in turn inform annual planning, and performance contracting in health. This KHSSP
provides the overall framework for sector guidance in the Medium Term. KHSSP was
coined to address priorities identified under its predecessor the National Health Sector
Strategic Plan II (NHSSP-2), which included introduced the Kenya Essential Package
of Health (KEPH), a comprehensive essential package which defines services and
interventions to be delivered at each level and across these five cohorts: (i) Pregnancy
and New-born up to 28 days, (ii) Childhood (29 days 59 months), (iii) Children and
Youths (5-19 years), (iv) Adulthood (20-59 years) and (v) Elderly (60 years and above).

KHSSP identifies the following priorities in community health:

(i) Revitalize CHS by guiding counties on how to establish and maintain community
health units
(ii) Revitalize the Community Health Strategy (CHS), providing guidelines to the County
Health Departments on how to realize its implementation with regard to the
remuneration of CHVs.
(iii) Community health to support specific objectives on the Non-Communicable
Diseases (NCD) in the KHSSP; Include interventions related to violence and injuries
in the NCDs

These priorities are to be implemented through a Community Health approach.

1.5 Global Health Commitments

During the third Global Human Resource for Health (HRH) forum in Brazil in 2013,
Kenya committed to 5 HRH commitments, which included; recruiting 40,000 Community
Health Extension Workers (CHAs) by 2017; advocacy to counties to establish community
health services by 2017; establishment and operationalization of community health
units from 2,511units in June 2012 to 9,294 units by 2017; establish mechanisms
for community health insurance as a modality for motivating the community health
workers by 2015. In addition, Kenya pledged to the global commitments of achieving
universal health coverage and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Kenya was a participant to the Astana Declaration on Primary Health Care 2018 in
October 2018 where the country strongly affirmed its commitment to the fundamental
right of every human being to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of
health without distinction of any kind. Since then the government begun the process
of developing the Kenya Primary Healthcare Strategy, 2019 – 20242.

2 Once finalized, amendments to this policy may be made to include any critical sections of the policy necessary

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1.6 Guiding Principles
The Community Health Policy will be guided by the following principles, based on
provisions of the Constitution, Kenya Health Policy 2014 – 2030, Universal Health
Coverage and principles of Primary Health Care:

i. Human Rights-based approach

ii. Equity
iii. Community-ownership and social accountability
iv. National government stewardship and support
v. Intergovernmental consultation and cooperation
vi. Effective links between the community link health facilities
vii. Partnerships and collaboration with actors in and outside the health system
viii. Financial protection

1.7 The Policy Development Process

The Kenya Community Health Policy development process has been stewarded by
the national government (Community Health and Development Unit) since November
2014. The process, outlined below, was evidence-driven, extensively consultative, and
broadly engaging with a wide section of health sector stakeholders such as relevant
government ministries, departments, and agencies; county governments; multilateral
and bilateral development partners; the civil society and implementing partners. The
process involved so far include:

Stage One: Formation of the Taskforce and recruitment of a consultant

A National Taskforce for the Community Health Policy was formed, drawing on
membership from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and various partners across the
sector, who have been supporting implementation of community health services. The
Taskforce brought on board, through a competitive process, a consulting firm, HECTA
Consultants, to support the process. The consultant developed an Inception report in
January 2015 in preparation for a situational analysis.

Stage Two: Situational analysis of the community health services

The situational analysis was conducted between March and July 2015 and involved two
processes – a detailed review of the evidence on community health including key guiding
documents, and a field study involving detailed interviews with various stakeholders at
the national and county levels. As part of the situational analysis, data was collected
from five counties - Nyeri, Homa Bay, Kilifi, Uasin Gishu and Garissa -, with support from
the respective county health management teams. The counties, purposively selected
to be broadly representative of the 47 counties in terms of demographic and health
characteristics, were picked based on various health systems parameters (outlined in
detail in the situational analysis report). In addition, interviews were done with national
level stakeholders, both at the MOH and among key development partners.

6
Following the completion of the situational analysis, two stakeholder engagement
meetings were held:
a) A national-level stakeholder meeting - to feed back the results and give contributions
on what the Draft Community Health Policy should include. The workshop brought
together various stakeholders from different departments in the MOH and
development partners. The workshop discussed detail the various topics under the
Community Health policy. This meeting was held in December 2015.
b) A writers’ workshop was held with the policy taskforce and major implementers of
community health in Naivasha to drat the actual policy. The draft was developed
live with all participants contributing actively to the content of all the sections.
c) A task force and stakeholders’ meeting were held, to discuss the details of the draft
policy developed following the Naivasha meeting.
d) The draft was then shared with a technical working group (TWG) comprised of the
Community Health Strategy goodwill ambassador-Prof. Miriam Were, MOH-DCHS
staff and development partners for their input. This second meeting was held on
the 17th February 2016

Stage Three: County Engagement

A two-day county engagement stakeholders’ meeting was held from the17th-18th
March 2016 where the draft policy and the situational analysis report were presented
and subjected to in-depth review and subsequent revision by stakeholders. The
meeting brought together a cross-section of stakeholders comprising County
representatives, development partners involved in Community Health, MOH-DCHS
staff and the consultants. All the 47 counties apart from Kajiado and Nandi counties
were represented at the meeting. The meeting was highly participatory and engaging
with participants working in groups led by County representatives to discuss and
provide views on the draft policy. Following this meeting, participants were allowed to
send in their comments which were included in the revision of a new draft.

Stage Four: Engagement with Council of Governors

The revised draft was presented to the Council of Governors for their input and
discussion with governors and County Executive Cabinet members. The council of
governors gave substantial feedback especially in the financing component of the
policy. The council then used internal systems to distribute to governors and County
Executive Cabinet members for feedback and inputs received were incorporated into
a new draft.

Stage Five: Presentation to Cabinet Secretary for approval

The final policy, incorporating all feedback was presented to the Chief Administrative
Secretary and Principal Secretary for their endorsement and to the Cabinet Secretary,
Health, for approval.

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CHAPTER 2: POLICY OBJECTIVES
In this Chapter, the goal of this policy is defined specific objectives outlined, and the
various structures needed towards realisation of those objectives elucidated.

2.1 Policy Goal

To empower individuals, families and communities to attain the highest possible
standard of health

2.2 Policy Objectives

2.2.1 General Objective
To provide policy guidance for the establishment and implementation of a strong,
equitable, holistic and sustainable community health structure.

2.2.2 Specific Policy Objectives

1) Policy Objective One: Leadership and Governance
Secure effective leadership and governance in the formation, maintenance and
management of community health structures and participation mechanisms
2) Policy Objective Two: Community Health Workforce
Ensure the recruitment and retention of community health human resources for
health, including obtaining appropriate numbers and strengthening mechanisms
for capacity building and supportive supervision of community health personnel.
3) Policy Objective Three: Service Delivery
As per the community health strategy, ensure provision of high-quality community
health services at the household and community level, including referral and follow-
up services.
4) Policy Objective Four: Community-based Health Information System
Support the development and strengthening of Community-based Health
Information System (CBHIS) and the monitoring and evaluation of systems to
sufficiently inform the implementation of community services at all levels.
5) Policy Objective Five: Health Products and Technologies
Promote and strengthen supply chain systems for community health that are
integrated into the government-led reporting systems and link-facilities including
the use of available technology.

8
6) Policy Objective Six: Financing for Community Health
Provide various mechanisms for mobilising, managing, and appropriately allocating
resources for sustainable financing and delivery of community health services at all
levels.
7) Policy Objective Seven: Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and community-
based surveillance
Provide for community health services and human resources data, and knowledge
management which will inform evidence-driven decision making.

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CHAPTER 3: DETAILED POLICY
OBJECTIVES
3.1 Leadership and Governance of Community
Health Services
The objective of this section is to secure effective leadership and governance for
community health services. This objective also guides the formation, maintenance and
governance of various community health structures critical for effective management
and governance for an effective community health services platform. Community health
services delivery shall be guided by a well-functioning community health governance
system described below.

3.1.1 The Community Health Unit (CHU)

Definition of a Community Health Unit

A Community Health Unit (CHU) comprises of households organised in functional
villages or sub-locations and formally recognised as the first tier in Kenya’s health
system. A CHU shall serve a prescribed size of the population and will be supported by
a prescribed number of Community Health Volunteers (CHV) and Community Health
Assistants (CHA) based on determinants such as population density. The CHU shall be
governed by a Community Health Committee (CHC), which shall be linked to a primary
health care facility to support the CHU’s implementation of its activities.

Formation and setting up of a community Health unit

The formation of the CHU shall follow a structured community entry process which
begins with awareness creation, situation analysis, and formation of linkage structures,
training teams and establishing the monitoring and evaluation mechanism. The entire
process shall be overseen by the CHA representing the county health management
team and partners, in collaboration with the county administrative structures. The
process shall entail:
1. Creation of awareness among county stakeholders, including the county/sub-
county health management teams, health facility managers and local leaders and
social mobilization of the community members to attend barazas for the selection
of their CHC and CHVs.
2. In a baraza setting, CHCs are selected then trained on their roles and responsibilities
using the nationally approved CHC training curriculum.
3. Upon completion of training, CHC members organise a baraza for the selection of
CHVs. CHVs are then trained on their roles and responsibilities using the nationally
approved CHV training curriculum.

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4. Upon completion of classroom training, CHVs then engage in household registration
after assignment of the specific areas of the village they will be in charge of.
Household registration is done using the nationally approved MOH Household
Register MOH 513.
5. Thereafter the CHVs, CHCs, CHAs and sub-county focal persons should reconvene
to discuss the data collected and discuss any key issues arising from the household
registrations in addition to lessons learnt and best practices.
6. Thereafter the community health unit is provided with a Master Community Health
Unit List (MCHUL) code. Establishing an information system allows the community
unit to report and share data on regular dialogue and action days, and dissemination
its demographic data to other levels of support.

County governments are advised to support efforts aimed at ensuring that all
stakeholders understand community health approaches prior to planning and
budgeting.

Functionality of a Community Health Unit

Functionality of the CHU should be based on attainment of the following eleven criteria:
1. Existence of trained community health committee (CHC) that meets at least quarterly
2. Trained CHVs and CHAs that meet prescribed guidelines
3. Coordination by county community health leadership
4. Supportive supervision for all community health personnel done at least quarterly
5. All trained CHVs and CHAs have reporting and referral tools
6. All trained CHVs and CHAs make household visits as per their targets and at least to
each household, once a quarter.
7. Availability and use of mechanisms for feedback, local tracking and dialogue
8. Presence of functional Health Information System (HIS) structure in accordance
with prescribed guidelines
9. Availability of community health supplies and commodities as defined by prescribed
guidelines
10. CHU registered in Master Community Health Unit List (MCHUL) and linked to health
facility
11. CHU conduct meetings at least quarterly for dialogue days and monthly for health
action days as well as household registration exercises at least once every six
months

For further guidance on functionality please refer to the MOH functionality/monitoring

tool.

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 3.1.2 Governance of Community Health Services

Community Health Committee (CHC)

The coordination and management of the CHU and its workforce shall be done by a
CHC, a group of members selected by the community. The committee shall include:
• A prescribed number of which not more than two thirds shall be from same
gender
• Representation from religious and Cultural groups within the context
• Representation from youth and people with disabilities

The members must reside in the community they are selected to serve. They will serve
a three-year term that is renewable once, unless agreed by the community. The CHC
shall choose its chairperson, and shall have at least one, and at most two CHVs. If
a member of the CHC is selected to be a CHV, they cease to be in the CHC unless
representing CHVs. The CHA shall be the technical advisor and secretary to the CHC.
The treasurer shall be a CHV. The chairperson shall become a co-opted member of the
link health facility committee.

The CHC shall be the first organ to be constituted in the establishment of a CHU. The
roles and responsibilities of the CHC shall include:
• Provision of leadership and oversight in the implementation of health and other
related community services
• Preparation and presentation of the CHU annual work-plans and operational
plans to the link facility health committee
• Planning, coordinating and conducting community dialogue and health action
days
• Working with the link facility to promote facility accountability to the community
• Holding quarterly consultative meetings with the link facility
• Creating an enabling environment for implementation of community health
services
• Resource mobilization for sustainability

Sub-County Health Management Team

The Sub-County Health Management Team coordinates all health matters at the sub-
county including Community Health Services. The Team shall provide an enabling
environment for operationalization of CHS. Their roles shall include:
• Planning and resource allocation
• Distribution of supplies
• Training
• Support supervision, coaching and mentoring and quality control
• Monitoring & Evaluation

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Each county shall designate an officer to be responsible for coordination and
management of Community Health Services at the sub-county level.

County Health Management Team

The County Health Management Team (CHMT) coordinates all health matters including
Community Health Services. The CHMT shall provide an enabling environment for
operationalization of CHS. Their roles shall include:
• Planning
• Procurement
• Resource mobilization and allocation
• Training
• Support supervision, coaching and mentoring and quality control
• Monitoring & Evaluation
• Provide linkage to the executive committee of county government and the
National Level
• Manage partnerships
• Interpret and operationalize the Community Health Policy

The County Community Health Officer shall be responsible for coordination and
management of Community Health Services at the county level.

National Government
The National government through the ministry of health shall, in consultation with
the County governments, do the following to support delivery of community health
services:
• Develop community health policies, legislation and guidelines
• Set standards and quality control for Community Health Services
• Resource mobilization for Community Health Services
• Partner coordination and networking
• Support supervision to counties
• Provide technical advice and support
• Conduct implementation esearch to generate evidence for action
• Capacity building to the counties on community health and development
• Advocacy for Community Health Services

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3.2 Community Health Workforce
3.2.1 Community Health Assistants / Officers
The Community Health Assistant / Officer (CHA / CHO) is a formal employee of the
County Government forming the link between the community and the local health
facility. The CHA / CHO is expected to perform the following tasks among others:
a. Household visits for health promotion, disease prevention, treatment of minor
ailments and client follow up and referral.
b. Participate in the selection, training and support of Community Health Volunteers
(CHVs) and Community Health Committees (CHCs)
c. Be the secretary to the CHC and the Custodian for CHC meeting minutes
d. Support and supervise CHVs in assigned tasks and coach them to ensure achievement
of desired outputs and outcomes
e. Training and coaching of CHVs on health service provision at the community level
including integrated community case management (iCCM) of common childhood
diseases – malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition
f. Ensure that CHVs have the data collection tools, commodities and supplies (including
those for iCCM services)
g. Ensure that CHVs have identity and visibility labels
h. Hold monthly feedback meetings with the CHVs assigned
i. Manage the community-based health information system (CBHIS) and use it to
influence continuous improvement in health status in collaboration with health
records and information management department
j. Collate information gathered by CHVs to display summaries at strategic sites to
provide relevant feedback as well as material for dialogue at household and
community levels and maintain records of community health
k. Compile reports from CHVs and submit to the link facility and share with other
relevant levels and ensure uploading into DHIS
l. Receive feedback from higher levels and transmit the same to CHCs and CHVs
through dialogue and planning that leads to actions to improve identified issues
m. Follow up and monitor actions emerging from dialogue and planning sessions to
ensure implementation in collaboration with other sectors
n. Provide support (technical) to CHVs, CHCs and other community actors
o. Monitor the use of simple drugs, commodities and supplies
p. Facilitate and participate in the registration of households
q. Convenor of quarterly community dialogue and mobilizes CHCs to hold meetings.
r. Serve as technical advisor and secretary to the CHC
s. Take Custody of all CHC records
t. Perform other functions as outlined in the Current guidelines/strategy

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For appointment as a CHA / CHO, a person should have been trained as set out in
the guidelines and/or scheme of service. The CHA / CHO is directly answerable to the
link facility in-charge and directly supervised by the sub-county community health
coordinator and sub-county MOH. They will also be accountable to the CHCs.

3.2.2 Community Health Volunteers (CHV)

Definition of a community health volunteer

The CHVs should be members of the local communities they are selected to serve in. To
qualify as a CHV, individuals shall be required to meet the conditions outlined below:
• Must be a citizen of Kenya
• Must meet the requirements of Chapter Six of the constitution
• Should be above the age of 18 and of sound mind.
• (S)he must be a responsible and respected member of the community
• Is self-supporting and understands that the role of a community health volunteer
does not draw a monthly income
• Is willing and ready to provide services to the community without charging
• (S)he must be a resident (including overnight stay) of respective community that is
selecting him / her for a continuous period of not less than five years prior to the
appointment date
• Is a form four leaver and literate, unless where the situation does not allow
• Is not disqualified for appointment to office by the above criteria or by any law

Selection of a community health volunteer

A community health volunteer will be selected at a community meeting or baraza called
by the area leader or the community health committee. Once selected, the community
health volunteers will undergo training to prepare them to serve households that
would be organized as a community health unit. Each community health unit should
meet the minimum number of Workers required to serve a certain size of households/
population, as stipulated in the most Current guidelines/strategy, and subject to
contextual factors such as population density and geographical coverage (Urban, Rural,
Agrarian & Nomadic).

Training of a community health Volunteers

Training of CHVs is based on a prescribed curriculum with two sections of basic and
technical modules.

The first section of training of CHVs is done immediately after selection and the
modules are composed of (i) health and development in the community, (ii) community
governance and leadership, (iii) communication, advocacy and social mobilization, (iv)
best practices for health promotion and disease prevention, (v) basic healthcare and

15
life saving skills, and (vi) management and use of community health information and
community disease surveillance. This first section is completed in 94 hours followed by
a one-month field practical. CHVs must complete all basic module before proceeding
to the technical modules.

The second section is composed of seven technical modules; (i) integrated community
case management, (ii) water, sanitation, and hygiene, (iii) maternal and newborn care,
(iv) family planning, (v) HIV, TB and Malaria, (vi) community nutrition, and (vii) non-
communicable diseases. The full curriculum is composed of 324 contact hours and 160
hours of practical (app. three months).

Training will be conducted by the community health assistants / officers at the sub-
county or link facility level. Training will be done within the locality that the community
health volunteers will be serving.

At the completion of the basic training, a community health volunteer shall be provided
with a certificate. In addition, at the completion of each technical module will be
accompanied by a certificate. At the completion of the basic modules, a volunteer will
be provided with a unique identification number to be linked to their community health
unit for record keeping purposes. Technical trainings are provided within the year of
service of the community health volunteer and are prioritized based on the local needs
of the community. Certificates are provided upon completion of each technical module.

Duties of a community health volunteer

The main duties of the CHV will be as follows:
a. Deliver key health messages to households as outlined in the Kenya Essential
Package of Health (KEPH)
b. Registration of households at frequencies stipulated in current guidelines
c. Guide community on health improvement and disease prevention
d. Treat common ailments and minor injuries with support and guidance from CHAs
including the implementation of Community-based Maternal and New-born Health
(cMNH) and Integrated Community Case Management of Common Childhood
diseases (iCCM).
e. Diagnose, treat, manage or refer accordingly, common childhood illnesses such as
diarrhoea, malaria, malnutrition and pneumonia.
f. With support from the CHA, stock the CHV kit with supplies provided through the
respective link facility or other mechanisms outlined in the guidelines/strategy
g. Refer cases to respective link facilities
h. Promote care seeking behaviour and compliance with treatment and advice
i. Visit homes to determine the health situation and initiating dialogue with household
members to undertake the necessary action for improvement
j. Recognise danger signs among household members and refer as appropriate
k. Promote appropriate home care for the sick, supported by CHAs and link facilities
l. Participate in community dialogue and action days organized by CHAs/CHCs

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m. Participate in monthly feedback meetings as organized by the CHA / CHO
n. Be available to the community to respond to questions and provide advice
o. Motivate members of the community to adopt health promoting practices
p. Organize, mobilize and lead village health activities
q. Maintain household registers and keep records of community health related events.
r. Report to the CHA activities they have been involved in and health problems they
have encountered that need to be brought to the attention of higher levels

Remuneration of community health volunteers

Although community health volunteers are recruited to work on voluntary basis,
counties shall pay them stipends and compensate them for their time in any other way
that would motivate them to continue providing this important health service to their
respective communities including support supervision and provision of commodities
and supplies. In order to mainstream remuneration of community health volunteer,
counties shall legislate community health services through enactment of county
community health bills.

3.3 Community Health Service Delivery

3.3.1 Service packages
The core community health service package to be delivered shall consist of the following:

Behaviour Change Communication

All community health activities shall have a component of behaviour change delivered
through a behaviour change community strategy which is cognisant of the local context.
The strategy should recognise that changing individual and community behaviour is
key to the prevention of diseases.

Behaviour change should take place at both individual and societal levels and must be
developed alongside the target groups. Being members of the community, community
health personnel are credible sources for encouraging positive health behaviour and
combating negative Cultural norms that inhibit health promotion.

Behaviour Change Communication can be delivered to the community through various

channels such as community dialogues, drama, song and dance, CHU cards and more.

Nurturing Care and Early Childhood Development

Nurturing care is the environment created by caregivers that ensures children’s good
health and nutrition, protects them from threats, and gives them opportunities of early
learning through interactions that are emotionally supportive and responsive. Early
childhood development (ECD) refers to the cognitive, physical, language, motor, social
and emotional development a child goes through from conception to eight years.

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Community health Volunteers and other personnel have a big role to play in ensuring
that children in the communities receive nurturing care, get playful opportunities to
learn, and are protected from any form of harm. Some specific nurturing care and ECD
duties include;
• Community awareness and demand creation on nurturing care including the
science of early childhood development, nurturing in-utero, developmental
milestones, responsive caregiving, security and safety and opportunities for
early learning
• Active case finding and referral for children with delayed milestones and/or
disabilities
• Care for children with developmental difficulties and disabilities
• Empowerment of families with children with disabilities and provision of social
support by linkage to peer-peer groups
• Information, support and counselling to caregivers about opportunities for early
learning, including the use of common household objects and home-made toys
• Promotion of clean environments for children including the elimination of the
use of charcoal to improve in-door air quality

Reproductive Health
Community health reproductive services shall be aimed at identifying clients for
provision of counselling and timely referral for reproductive health services. In this
regard, the CHVs & CHAs shall perform the following roles:
• Counsel for reproductive health – HIV, contraceptives, encourage uptake of
screening for cervical and breast cancers
• Identify and register pregnant women through home visits
• Promote early and timely ante-natal (ANC), HIV testing, referrals and follow-ups
• Identify danger signs during pregnancy and signs of early labour, then refer.
• Assist pregnant women & their families to do birth-plans
• Encourage male involvement in pregnancy and accompaniment for delivery
• Promote facility-based deliveries and homecare for the pregnant women
• Conduct ante-natal visits to advise mothers on early initiation & exclusive
breastfeeding and refer for post-natal care
• Conduct post-natal (PNC) visits as per the national guidelines and screen for
post-partum danger signs
• Counsel mothers to seek family-planning services
• Counsel on maternal nutrition

New-born Care
New-born care aims at ensuring promotion of safe neonatal practices, identifying and
dealing with danger signs appropriately, and supporting the mother on infant feeding
and nutrition.

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 • Counsel mothers on personal and new-born hygiene
• Support mothers to initiate and sustain exclusive breastfeeding
• Conduct and demonstrate thermal for a new-born
• Counsel on cord care of the new-born
• Assess, identify and refer new-borns with danger signs
• Refer new-borns for immunization and growth monitoring
• Follow-up visits for referred and small babies
• Counsel on maternal and new-born nutrition
• Encourage responsive and nurturing care for the new-born including play,
stimulation and communication

Child Health and Immunization

Aims at ensuring prevention of childhood diseases and improvement of child health
• Encourage responsive and nurturing care for the child including play, stimulation
and communication, delayed milestones, child neglect and abuse
• Monitor the growth of children to ensure positive development
• Screen for delayed milestones and disabilities and refer where appropriate
• Raise awareness and counsel on dangers signs of a sick child and when to seek
care.
• Diagnose, treat and manage childhood diseases (including diarrhoea, pneumonia,
malaria and malnutrition) as per the national guidelines
• Counsel on the immunization schedule and the dangers of not following it strictly
• Mobilize communities during immunization days
• Identify and referral of children for immunization
• Trace and referral of defaulters
• Assist in immunization during immunization campaigns

Nutrition
Nutrition activities include information education and communication (IEC) for good
nutrition, screening and follow-up for malnutrition. Roles and responsibilities include:
• Provide IEC on nutrition services available at health facility and community levels
• Screen, identify and make referrals for malnutrition
• Conduct growth monitoring for under fives
• Follow-up and defaulter tracing for clients with malnutrition
• Referrals for micronutrient supplementation
• Promote, protect and support exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months
of life and sustained breastfeeding for the first two years and beyond within the
community

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 • Carry out health promotion by providing information education communication
about healthy diet for people in all stages of the life cycle, particularly among
vulnerable populations
• Promote use of improved home-based recipes and preparation methods for
locally available foods, including home fortification
• Liaise and collaborate with other sectors to address food and nutrition security
at household level
• Maternal nutrition, screening, advice, referral for further management
• Distribute iron and folic supplements

Environmental Health Services

Environment activities include water, sanitation, hygiene, vector control and hazard
detection. Roles and responsibilities of community health personnel here include:
• Carry out health promotion activities on protecting water sources, home water
treatment, and safe water storage, hand-washing, proper use of latrines, waste
disposal and vector control. This may include demonstration where appropriate.
• Identify water sanitation and hygiene diseases and root causes and to negotiate
improved practices and solutions
• Promote community led total sanitation by mobilising the community, linking
with environmental health personnel
• Detect early signs of hazard, intervening and/or reporting as appropriate

Home based Care for Terminally ill Residents

Home based care activities include caring for people who suffer from life threatening
diseases. This is a hallmark of a humane and caring society. The roles and responsibilities
of community health personnel in this area include:
• Generate general responsibility towards the acceptance and continuity of health
services for the terminally ill.
• Offer basic counselling support for terminally ill and their families.
• Mobilise local resources for care.
• Motivate of community members, families, caregivers to continue support for
terminally ill patients.
• Link terminally ill with families/support groups/institutions for additional support.
• Link and refer terminally ill patients to nutrition and other supportive programmes
• Build a supportive environment and offer information to address and reduce
stigma and discrimination at community level.
• Support patients referred from health facility to community for home-based
care, including supporting drug adherence.

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Basic Curative Services
Basic curative services shall aim at preventing, detecting and providing early treatment
for minor illnesses in the community. To facilitate the provision of basic curative, CHVs&
CHAs shall:
• Diagnosis and treat – Malaria, Pneumonia, Diarrhoea, Moderate Malnutrition
especially in children under five as per nationally issued guidelines
• Screen and refer for Tuberculosis and Severe Malnutrition
• Provide treatment support – HIV, Tuberculosis
• Conduct disease surveillance of emergencies, existing threats and emerging/re-
emerging conditions

Communicable Diseases
Communicable diseases (also known as infectious diseases) are illnesses that spread
from person to person, or from an animal/insect to a person, through air, blood or
other bodily fluid or skin contact. These include HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria,
bacterial and viral diarrhoea, skin conditions among others. They also include global
pandemics such as Ebola and Marburg viruses. To help prevent and control the spread
of communicable diseases, CHVs/CHAs will be required to:
• Promote health education at household and community level. This includes
ensuring households and communities have access to clean safe drinking water
and good hygiene practices such as hand-washing among others.
• Strengthen vector and personal protection through promoting initiatives such as
insecticide-treated bed-net usage and others
• Promote immunization coverage to minimize communicable diseases
• Early detection of communicable diseases at household/community level

Non-Communicable Diseases
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are medical conditions that are not infectious or
transmissible among people, such as mental health, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases
etc. Community health personnel shall assist in identifying, screening and referring of
NCDs in the community and promoting healthy lifestyles to reduce related diseases.

Their main roles shall include:

• Discuss and counsel community members on the importance of knowing the
risks factors, signs and symptoms of non-communicable diseases.
• Increase awareness on how to prevent non-communicable diseases by:
promotion of physical activity, encouraging a healthy diet, maintaining health
weight and not using harmful substances such as alcohol, drugs and tobacco.
• Screen for common non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and
diabetes, and refer where necessary

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 • Referral for rehabilitative and counselling services for drug and substance abuse.
• Encourage regular health check-ups for early detection of non-communicable
diseases.
• Maintain close contact with members of the community with NCDs to ensure
adherence to therapy and treatment protocols.

Mental Health and Gender Based Violence Services

Community Mental health includes peoples’ emotional, psychological, and social well-
being. It affects how human beings think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how
people handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at
every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Counties shall ensure community health workforce are enabled to;

• Discuss and counsel community members on the importance of knowing the
risks factors, signs and symptoms mental illness
• Increase awareness on how to prevent mental illness and avoid using harmful
substances such as alcohol, drugs and tobacco.
• Screen for common disorders and refer appropriately.
• Referral for rehabilitative and counselling services for drug and substance abuse.
• Maintain close contact with members of the community with mental health
conditions to ensure adherence to therapy and treatment protocols

Orphans and Other Vulnerable Groups

Community health personnel are key to strengthening the capacity of families to care
for Orphans and Vulnerable group, including Children. During home visits, community
health personnel can impart knowledge and skills needed to monitor health and care
to vulnerable children with particular attention to children and or elderly headed
households. They should also ensure that holistic health needs of the elderly, especially
on access to health services and psycho-social support are well integrated in the
community health package they are offering. Community health personnel shall make
efforts to specifically target and identify the needs of the elderly people with both
preventive and curative services. Services to orphans and other vulnerable groups and
their caregivers shall include:
• Motivation of community members, family support to continue providing support
and enhancing social community safety nets
• Link vulnerable children to social and child protection programs
• Refer orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC)s and other vulnerable groups
and their caregivers for psychosocial support and other social services including
health, nutrition and child protection
• Mentor families on child care and nursing care skills
• Monitor for education outcomes i.e. enrolment, attendance and progressions
school attendance

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People Living with Disabilities
The Kenya Persons with Disabilities Act, 2003 defines “disability” to mean a physical,
sensory, mental or other impairment, including any visual, hearing, learning or physical
incapability, which impacts adversely on social, economic or environmental participation.
Community units shall play a critical role in supporting the implementation of this Act
specially to ensure full participation and awareness of Persons Living with Disabilities
(PLWD) in matters of individual and communal health in accordance with the provisions
of the constitution, the disability act and this policy. In particular community health
personnel shall:
• Advocate for physical access to health services for PLWD.
• Ensure full engagement of PLWD in all community health related activities.
• Advocate or promote special devices that allow PLWD to live a dignified and
productive life.
• Support efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination

Community Based Surveillance

Community Health Volunteers will notify the CHA of any notifiable disease encountered
within their areas of work according to the national disease surveillance and response
guidelines. They will also:
• Report notifiable diseases by any means including mobile phones
• Report any unusual events within the community for investigation
• Document such cases in relevant community disease surveillance data registers
and refer with immediate effect.

3.3.2 Referral Services

The referral system is an interlinked network of service providers and facilities
that provide a continuum of care. The network may include both individuals and
organizations working to provide care and support to people who are unwell. There are
typically four levels to a health referral network: the community, primary, secondary
and tertiary levels.

The community level consists of household caregivers, CHVs, CHAs and CHOs, linked
to primary health care level. These providers should be trained to recognize illness and
gauge its severity in order to provide prompt treatment (if they have the necessary
capacity) or refer, when they are unable to treat or need for continuum of care to
higher levels or receive facility referral for community care and support.

The Community health personnel shall refer all cases that require procedures outside
of their approved scope of work to the nearest link health facility and should have the
necessary tools required for referral, receiving feedback from receiving facility staff.
It is essential that CHVs refrain from conducting procedures that are beyond their
proficiency as outlined by their training and approved scope of work.

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3.4 Community Based Health Information System
(CHIS)
3.4.1 Definition of a Community Based Health
Information System (CHIS)
Community Based Health Information (CHIS) is a system that generates health
related information through sources at the community level. It has the potential to
be comprehensive as there is the possibility of covering everyone in a community unit
under the responsibility of the CHC according to their need for care. Community must
be involved in design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

3.4.2 Process for setting up a Community Health

Information System (CHIS)
A community unit should be registered in the Master Community Health Unit List
(MCHUL), and assigned MCHUL number. CHA / CHOs should ensure that the community
unit is visible on District Health Information System (DHIS). CHVs and CHAS shall lead
in household visitation including data collection and monitoring. CHAs / CHOs should
analyse the data, summarise it and forward it for uploading in the DHIS. This is followed
by dissemination and use of the data for dialogue and planning through dialogue days
leading to community action days to act on the resolutions of the dialogue day, before
entering another quarterly monitoring cycle.

3.4.3 Quality of Community Health Data

The system will collect data based on the activities of CHVs, CHAs / CHOs and CHCs
as well as general information on community development issues, socio economic,
demographic indices of households, community resources, diseases etc. CHVs and
CHAs / CHOs are responsible for the quality of data collected. Nationally accredited
e-health applications may be deployed in order to ensure quality of community health
data collection and reporting.

3.5 Community Health Products and Technologies

Community Health personnel should be provided with the necessary commodities,
supplies and tools to carry out their duties through link facilities.

All Community Health personnel will account for usage of supplies and commodities
using the appropriate reporting forms and mechanisms.

3.6 Financing for Community Health Services

Community health approach is the foundation of the health system and in the devolved
system proper investment for this level is crucial.

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 • The national governments shall commit adequate financial resources through
budgeting processes to meet the objectives of the community health policy.
• The county governments shall adopt programme-based budgeting and commit a
prescribed percentage of health budget to meet the objectives of the community
health policy.
• Effective implementation of the community health policy will require community
participation in the form of resource allocation (human resources, supplies and
finances for planned community activities).
• The county and national governments will seek support and mobilise resources
from partners interested in supporting community health.
• Civil society organisations (CSOs), community-based organisations (CBOs), faith-
based organisations (FBOs) and private sector will be required to support the
priorities of the community health by working with the community health units
through the existing county health structures.
• The national, county governments and partners shall apply appropriate
disbursement mechanisms to ensure efficient flow of finances to support
CHUs such as allocations from government for community health services and
performance-based financing.
• The national and county governments shall explore various health insurance
options to optimise finances available for community health.
• The national and county governments shall work in close partnership with
development partners, community-based organizations (CBOs), the National
Hospital Insurance Fund and other stakeholders to mobilize funds for community
health services and put in place structures for a prudent utilisation of community
health resources, including those raised by community members within CHUs.
• The county government shall work with all partners, CBOs and FBOs to ensure
a coordinated approach in supporting community health and put in place
mechanisms to ensure partners declare their resource envelop and extent of
support.

3.7 Monitoring, Evaluation, Research

and Community-based Surveillance
3.7.1 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
a) The M&E framework seeks to monitor the process and outcomes of policy
implementation in order to report on the progress of the policy implementation
process.
b) Implementation of the policy will take place through five-year strategy documents
including revision of the current strategy to reflect the policy’s needs.

25
 3.7.2 Research
a) Research should be integrated into community health implementation to get
evidence to support decision making, planning, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation and for policy review.
b) The national and county health leadership shall play an advisory role and will
coordinate research implementation. They shall also ensure engagement with
community organizations, agencies and diverse population groups to identify
research questions critical to the community and to improve methods to reflect
community preferences.
c) Community health personnel shall be required to collect quality data while the
national level should ensure that community health research priorities are reflected
in national surveys.
d) The national and county government shall allocate finances for research and policy
review, including but not limited to tapping resources from the national research
fund (NRF).
e) Research findings should be disseminated to all concerned stakeholders.
f) All research involving human subjects shall also adhere to national and international
research ethical standards and be guided by the Kenya health research priorities
guidelines.

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CHAPTER 4: PARTNERSHIP
AND COORDINATION
Multi-sectoral and inter-governmental coordination, collaboration and team work, shall
be encouraged to ensure optimal use of resources for health services to communities.
Oversight and coordination is also needed at the National and County levels, as well
as structures ensuring smooth coordination with NGO partners and vertical programs
having community components.

4.1 Coordination
Community level
At community level, coordination will be done by the CHC with support from the
link facility, and SCHMT. Coordination will ensure harmonized programming among
partners, and provide a platform for standardized approaches in service delivery and
accountability.

Sub-county level
The SCHMT will be responsible for coordination to ensure harmonized programming
of the community health work and partners and provide a platform for standardized
approaches in service delivery and accountability.

County level
The CHMT will ensure coordination in delivery of services through the community
health personnel, including activities of partners at community level. In each CHMT,
a focal person will be assigned responsibility for Community Health Services and will
ensure coordination within the county and among partners working in that community.
This position should have a full-time focus on Community Health Services. The Chair of
the CHMT will link the County to the National MOH through the Executive Committee of
the county government. The County technical team shall be chaired by county director
in charge of health and work in close collaboration and partnership with partners.

National level
At national level, the overall coordination and planning for community health
services will be under the leadership of the Head of the Division of Community
Health. This will be supported and advised by a technical committee with
representation from key implementing partners. The National level will also
coordinate efforts with inter-agency coordination committees (ICCs), other
arms of government, NGOs and other stakeholders. They will also coordinate
efforts with international bodies such as the UN, INGOs and other global actors.

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National level will coordinate learning and policy exchanges with other governments
and regional intergovernmental bodies for example ECSA, IGAD, and AU. Technical
working groups will be formed at MoH level, with participation of partners; chaired by
the Head of the Community Health Development Unit or his designees.

4.2 Partnerships
Partnership is a collaborative effort requiring systems and structures that harness and
link diverse community resources towards quality improvement of services at level 1.
Community partnership is a process of building voluntary strategic alliances among
community, government, private, and non-profit making organizations. Alliances and
partnership building involves sharing of risks, responsibilities, resources, rewards
as well as exchange of information for mutual benefit and to achieve a common
community health purpose.

Partnership with communities shall be developed through social mobilization activities

carried out to create community interest and motivate and influence community
members to take action or to support initiatives that are beneficial for themselves.

Social mobilization will be carried out through village gatherings, village health days,
seminars, popular theatre, youth groups, women’s groups, and print and electronic
media. The CHMT will make sure that community health persons are equipped
with knowledge and skills for carrying out their functions in social mobilization and
sensitization of the community.

Efforts to build partnership at community level will go into: (i) Identification and
recruiting partners to play a role in the implementation of CH services, (ii) Identifying
roles and responsibilities for various partners in the implementation of CH services, (iii)
Maintaining partnerships and ensuring active partner participation, by engaging them
in the planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and feedback process. County
and National levels will endeavour to build and maintain Public-Private Partnerships in
delivery of services.

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Figure 1: Kenya Community Health Policy M & E Framework

Kenya Vision Global Health Constitution

2030 Commitments of Kenya

Kenya Health
Policy 2014-2030

Community Health
Policy 2019-2030

Community Health Strategy

2014-2019

National County Facility

Government

Community

29
REFERENCES
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pages 327 and 330
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 MINISTRY OF HEALTH

PUBLISHED BY:
Ministry of Health
Afya House, Cathedral Road
PO Box 30016 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
http://www.health.go.ke

For more information please contact:

Head, Division of Community Health
headdch@gmail.com

This policy is intended as a guide for the health sector for the implementation and delivery of community health services in Kenya.