What About Rural Health?™

In this episode, we sit with Peterson Wachira, a seasoned Clinical Officer, Infectious Disease Expert, and National Chairperson of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) — and a recipient of the Head of State Commendation Award.
Wachira offers an unfiltered look into Kenya’s health system — breaking it down from Level 1 community centers to Level 6 national hospitals, while highlighting how primary healthcare truly begins at the grassroots.
He discusses:
  • The crucial distinction between medical officers and clinical officers
  • The 360° approach to bettering healthcare for both workers and patients
  • How systemic failures during Ebola and COVID-19 exposed gaps in preparedness
  • Why pandemic readiness must be proactive, not reactive
  • The shortage of clinical officers and the impact on rural healthcare delivery
  • How community health promoters are empowering citizens to demand stronger health policies during elections
Want to be a guest on What About Rural Health?™? Send Chinasa Imo a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1762029634065133df1c28412

Listen to this powerful conversation on the realities, lessons, and hope within Kenya’s healthcare system.

What is What About Rural Health?™?

From the Margins: Let’s Create the Narrative Together
What About Rural Health?™ is a podcast series dedicated to bringing focused
discussions on the unique challenges, lived experiences, opportunities, and innovations
within rural healthcare—both locally and globally. Our mission is to bring rural health to
the forefront of the global health conversation, ensuring these stories are not just heard,
but impossible to ignore.

Hosted by Chinasa U Imo, a Global Health Policy Strategist, and produced by
WARH?™ Studios, this immersive series blends first-hand accounts, expert insights,
policy conversations, and cutting-edge research to elevate rural health in the global
discourse. Each episode features voices from the frontlines—community members,
healthcare professionals, researchers, and policymakers—unpacking the structural
gaps and innovative solutions shaping access to care in underserved communities.
From deep-dive interviews to field-based storytelling, we bring rural health out of the
margins and into focus—sparking dialogue, inspiring action, and influencing decisions
and policies that advance equity.

Whether you're a health professional, a student, a researcher, a policymaker, an
advocate, or a curious listener, What About Rural Health?™ invites you to rethink global
health through a rural lens—and join the movement to make rural health impossible to
ignore.