Muthoni Gichu is the Head of the Division of Geriatric Medicine within Kenya’s Ministry of Health. In this role, she has championed healthy ageing and older persons' health policy development within Kenya’s national government, always working to collaborate with civil society and older people themselves in any effort towards policy development. Muthoni Gichu has therefore dedicated significant efforts to ensure that Kenya has health policies that respond to the changing demographics of the country which, despite stereotypes of Africa as a younger continent, is tending towards an increase in the number of older persons.
Muthoni Gichu’s work to be a leader for healthy ageing in Kenya has not been the easiest journey. Competing interests in child health, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis prevention among others constantly place the healthy ageing agenda at risk of being deprioritised – but Muthoni Gichu’s innovation lies in leveraging an integrated framing that ensures policy proposals aimed at promoting healthy ageing also have a clear positive impact on other aspects of population health. As a result, within the education sector during curriculum reforms, Muthoni Gichu has been able to advocate for the inclusion of healthy ageing concepts in the basic education curriculum as part of a life course approach, and the development of community health volunteers’ training guidelines to enhance capacity at the community level. Similarly, during a review of data collection tools Muthoni Gichu was able to incorporate the collection of age-disaggregated data including for older persons above the age of 60.
But by far the most impactful work that Muthoni Gichu has led on is the development of Kenya’s Healthy Ageing and Older Persons Health Strategy 2022-2026. Informed by WHO’s Integrated Care for Older People approach, the strategy is designed to facilitate implementation of quality, comprehensive and responsive health and social services for all older persons in support of their health and well-being. The establishment of such a strategy in a national context where resources are limited and priorities are numerous is an inspiring exemplar that sets the bar for national-level work to foster healthy ageing around the world.