NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19- Thousands of needy students from the Kenya Medical Training College will miss out on financial support under the Afya Elimu Fund (AEF), as USAID, a key financier, pulls out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
USAID on Wednesday handed over the project to the Government, who co-financed the Fund among other partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
USAID Deputy Mission Director Heather Schildge challenged the private sector to join in the Fund and help support more needy students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe programme has already 11, 878 new healthcare workers and currently supports 24,017 students, pursuing a degree in a medical field,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe beneficiaries will contribute to the national growth by saving lives, improving the quality of life for Kenyans and boosting the economic environment of youth and women.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the project, medical students received an average loan of Sh40,000 to finance their fee payment and accommodation costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOver the years, the government of Kenya contribution to the Fund through HELB grew tremendously, with the government in the end contributing four times more than USAID,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Elimu Afya fund has raised $26 million \u201callowing it, to train three more times students, than initially planned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afya Elimu was established in 2013 and launched in 2016, under a Public- Private Partnership (PPP) initiative aimed at providing training fees for needy students in medical training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Fund focuses on middle level cadres such as nursing, laboratory technologists, clinical officers among others who form the bulk of the country\u2019s health workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AEF is a revolving fund that provides low interest loans at 4 percent to students to meet their tuition fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Fund offers affordable loans to needy students pursuing pre-service medical training at mid-level colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event was attended by among others HELB Chief Executive Officer Charles Ringera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ag Director of Health Dr Patrick Amoth was represented in the event by Dr Kigen Bartilol, from the Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKenya Vision 2030 indicate health care under the social pillar as a key of achieving the vision of a middle-income economy,\u201d Dr Bartilol said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that the country is still grappling with a shortage of health care workers, which calls for more investment in the sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19- Thousands of needy students from the Kenya Medical Training College will miss out on financial support under the Afya Elimu Fund (AEF), as USAID, a key financier, pulls out of it. USAID on Wednesday handed over the project to the Government, who co-financed the Fund among other partners. USAID Deputy Mission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13661,"featured_media":470306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,26],"tags":[1981],"coauthors":[389],"class_list":["post-626547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kenya","category-top-stories","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n