MPs praise CHPs, urge Meru residents for early screening and better nutrition to Tackle Diabetes and hypertension.
Meru MPs led by North Imenti MP Rahim Dawood, Dan Kiili (Igembe North), Mpuru Aburi (Tigania East), and Dorothy Muthoni (Nominated) have urged residents to embrace early health screening and proper nutrition, saying lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension can be managed and, in some cases, reversed if detected early.
Speaking during an engagement with Community Health Promoters (CHPs), Dawood commended the work of those who had called the CHPs at his NGCDF offices, saying the government’s stipend program has strengthened grassroots health services.
“The President, during his State of the Nation, recognized the hard work and crucial disease intervention conducted by CHPs. You must give credit where it is due because Ruto’s administration is the first to initiate a stipend for CHPs,” he said.
Community health promoters at the North Imenti MP Rahim Dawood NGCDF’s offices
Meru Woman Rep Karambu Kailemia said she is the most impressed by the great work CHPs do.
“You serve many within the community. You are the most important people in our communities. The greatest of all riches is one’s health. I am pleading with the Meru people to give me another chance of serving them for a second term,” Kailemia said.
Kailemia also drummed up support for President William Ruto’s reelection.
She urged Meru people to accommodate one another and help curb gender-based violence (GBV).
“Many diseases developed due to GBV incidences among family members. I urge you, my brothers and sisters, to live in harmony, peace, and love,” Kailemia said.
Dawood recounted his own experience with the conditions, saying he was diagnosed in 2017 at the height of political tension.
“I didn’t know I had diabetes and hypertension due to the 2017 political pressure. I thank the doctor who did tests on me and it was treated. We need to go further in creating awareness on nutrition to avoid lifestyle diseases,” Dawood said.
He warned that unmanaged diabetes and hypertension can lead to severe complications.
“When you are sick of hypertension and diabetes, you get dementia,” he said, recalling his mother’s battle with the condition. “My mother died suffering from dementia, which we never knew until the last days. When you are suffering from dementia, you need to have a close person to monitor your health and be in a family setting.”
Dawood also urged men aged 45–50 to undergo routine prostate checks, citing his father’s death from prostate cancer.
“They should not fear or be ashamed but walk to a nearby hospital for screening and treatment,” he said.
Meru Health CECM Denis Mugambi said the county has 4,000 CHPs, each serving about 100 households.
“These are great numbers to invest in. We have talked about their stipends for a long time and I pray for the addition of their salaries to 10k,” Mugambi said, adding that CHPs help identify cancer cases and respond to outbreaks such as mpox.
A representative from the Deputy President’s office, Gideon Kimathi, praised the workers, saying, “CHPs do a great job in reducing the spread of diseases. My work is like that of the Holy Spirit to make the DP Kindiki to deliver on his promises.”
