When the pilots are completed, the government will integrate lessons learned in these counties into the national roll-out.
Kenya’s quest for UHC
According to Mulwa, Makueni County serves as a model for stronger health systems in Kenya.
“We were the first, and we have stimulated the conversation about universal health coverage in the country,” he said.
Following the experiment in Makueni County, in December 2018 President Uhuru Kenyatta launched a UHC pilot program targeting at least 3.2 million people in four counties — Kisumu, Nyeri, Isiolo, and Machakos.
Christopher Muthama, unit head for the community health strategy in Makueni County, calls for more partnerships in order to reach universal health coverage.
Under UHC, the government hopes to provide coverage of an essential health benefits package to the entire population, as well as access to essential medicines. It seeks to reduce yearly out-of-pocket household expenditures from 32% to 20% for health services, increase the number of health workers, reduce distances traveled to health facilities, and reduce infant mortality rates.
But the government has many hurdles to overcome in reaching its goals. According to a Ministry of Health presentation at a recent health forum in Nairobi, none of the health facilities it assessed in one of its reports had all the essential medicines available for patients and only 24% of health facilities had all the necessary basic equipment.
Reconstructive and maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Martin Kamau, founder of Bela Risu Foundation, provides free surgery for cleft lip and palate patients at the Kisumu County Referral Hospital as part of the foundation's partnership with Smile Train.