Nairobi, KENYA 13 March 2018 – The Cabinet Secretary for Health Sicily Kariuki has called on stakeholders in health to partner with the government in the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), one of the Big Four sectors the government has prioritized to lead the transformation of development in the country by 2022.
“All stakeholders must scale up their role so that jointly, we can deliver as one,” said the CS when she addressed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Partnership Platform workshop held in Nairobi today.
She said the Government is committed to working together with all stakeholders in a coordinated manner to ensure that Kenya achieves the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage.
She said a strong health sector coordination mechanism towards UHC comprising UHC Oversight Committee, UHC inter-agency steering committee and technical sub-committees has been established and advised the SDG Partnership Platform in Kenya to align with the UHC coordination mechanism at the Ministry of Health to synergize efforts towards the sole objective of achieving UHC in the country.
The CS observed that half of health facilities in the country are owned or managed by the private sector, and the sector is also fast in adopting and applying technological innovation. “Therefore there is need to create an enabling environment for the private sector to play its rightful role towards the achievement of the SDGs and UHC.”
She pointed out that two thirds of the disease burden and other health care challenges in Kenya can be addressed by putting more focus on primary healthcare and related interventions and the private sector can play a critical role in primary health care.
The said the Government has scaled up health insurance enrolment using community based approaches, investment in infrastructure and leveraging on technological innovations among others to fast track the achievement of Universal Health Coverage.
The Government she added is targeting financial health protection programmes that are meant to reduce the burden of out of pocket expenditures among families and households. The programmes include Linda Mama Programme, the Health Insurance Subsidy Programme, the Medical Cover for the Elderly and People with Disabilities and the Removal of User Fees at the public primary healthcare facilities.
Other programmes that are meant to enhance access to quality healthcare services and lead to the attainment of universal health coverage, include the Managed Equipment Services, the public health programmes and the recruitment of additional health workers.
She called on all partners, both at the national and county government levels to be accountable for interventions and results related to SDGs. “There is need to jointly identify, design, plan, and implement appropriate, affordable and scalable primary healthcare public private partnership interventions that will transform life,” she said.
She also expressed the need to increase financing for primary health based interventions that will lead to an inclusive and transformative development of areas and regions through intensified domestic resource mobilization approaches in order to address both the communicable and non-communicable disease burden as well as injuries.