The World Health Organization lists Kenya among African countries experiencing health workforce crisis catalysed through immigration, underproduction, inconsistent quality of production and unequal distribution. Strengthening health training institutions to increase production of high-quality health workers is acknowledged as a measure to mitigate the crisis.IntraHealth International’s USAID-funded FUNZOKenya Project (2012–2017) undertook an assessment to identify the bottlenecks to increasing the number and quality of pre-service graduates in Kenya. The assessment, a cross-sectional descriptive study, collected data through structured respondent interviews among faculty, students in health training institutions, key informants and desk review. The assessment purposively selected 14 institutions from 18 institutions identified for initial collaboration with the project towards strengthening health workforce training. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) application helped analyse quantitative data and quotes used to illustrate perceptions on the quality of curricula.The findings revealed major gaps in quality and adequacy of curricula in the training institutions. A national standard framework to guide curricula review process is lacking. Further, curricula did not adequately prepare students for clinical placement, as most failed to directly respond to national health needs. The study recommended reviews of curricula to ensure their responsiveness to emerging issues in the health sector, the formation of curriculum committees to review curricula, development of official curricula review standards and an integrated mechanism to disseminate policies and guidelines.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12960-015-0048-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Aflatoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi and contaminate various agricultural commodities either before harvest or under post-harvest conditions. Acute aflatoxin poisoning leading to casepatients and deaths has continued to occur in several parts of Kenya. However, there is emerging evidence implicating chronic aflatoxins exposure as an important factor in infant growth stunting and immune suppression. The consumption of smaller dosages overtime produces no obvious symptoms as would happen with acute dosage. Thus, it has not attracted much attention in Kenya in terms of public health priorities. Aflatoxins have been detected mainly in the staple foods such as cereals and legumes commodities, which form the main gruel ingredients used to compose weaning foods in most rural households. This suggests that children may be more exposed to mycotoxins than the rest of the population and this could be the reason for increased cases of infant malnutrition and mortality in certain areas in Kenya. The extent to which stunted growth and immune suppression contribute to the overall burden of infectious disease merits consideration. Therefore, this paper discusses dietary chronic mycotoxins exposure in Kenya and emerging public health concerns of stunted growth and immune suppression as reported in various related animal and human studies. It also highlights several factors that may enhance the dietary mycotoxins exposure especially amongst children and further explores various localized control measures and research areas within the context of food scarcity and extreme poverty experienced in rural Kenya. This paper aims at reinforcing that presence of mycotoxins within the food system should be addressed as an urgent food safety issue as they place a significant hindrance towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 6 on reduction of child mortality and combating of diseases, respectively.

This paper examines the impact of multinational channel strategy on customer value by assessing customer demand side issues. It assess the relationship between order cycle time, stock availability and sales to describe the impact of distribution strategy on customer value. The study was carried in locations comprised of Equator Bottlers Limited franchise territory within five districts in Western Kenya. A cross-section survey using a structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was prepared for analysis by editing, coding, categorizing and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Majority of distributors were found to be located within the major urban areas of Kisumu and Kericho as a result of proximity to the plant and high rates of consumption. In order to increase the value offered to customers, there is need to reduce order cycle times to the bare minimum of one day for stock replenishment.