Some Kwale adolescents and young people have petitioned the county government to increase funding for the health sector for improved service delivery.
The group wants Kwale government through the county assembly to increase the budgetary ceiling to the health sector to Sh3.63 billion from Sh2.7 billion in the County Fiscal Strategy Paper 2024/2025.
The total budget estimates for the county is Sh9.67 billion.
Led by Gladys Kangombe, the advocacy champions decried there has been a reduction in the amount allocated for the health sector in the past financial years.
Further they noted that underfunding of the sector has continued to paralyse the health department and deny residents access to quality healthcare and friendly reproductive health services for the young people.
"It is a worrying trend that allocation for health has been reducing from 30 per cent to 24 per cent from the financial year 2021/2022 to FY2023/2024 that it is way below the World Health Organization standard of 30 per cent," she said.
The reduction in financing is despite the population growth and increased need for various health services.
According to the Kwale County Department of Health population data, the region is largely dominated by young people, with those aged 24 years and below accounting for 57 per cent of the total population.
Kangombe said the county should start planning for the youth by supporting the allocation of finances to programmes targeting adolescents and young people.
She said with a low budget ceiling for the health sector, the county will be unable to improve service delivery as far as staffing and buying required drugs and equipment to run the health facilities appropriately.
"Inadequate staffing and resources affect the provision of health services at large," she said.
Statistics from the county health department state that Kwale has 174 health facilities and 100 of them are manned by one staff, yet they are expected to offer a full range of services to the community.
Only 15 health facilities fully operate 24 hours per day while the rest shut their services by 5 pm hindering the delivery of health services to residents.
She said the county should invest in strengthening the healthcare system by increasing the funding to properly address human resource gaps in service delivery to young people and pregnant women, including offering training service providers on youth-friendly packages and long-serving contraceptive methods.
Kangombe added that the Kwale administration should develop a comprehensive strategy to prevent commodity stock out, emphasising the importance of efficient management and consistent availability of essential commodities.
She underscored the need for the county to prioritise the improvement of healthcare infrastructure including backup power supply, water and ambulance services.
Kangombe added that the Kwale government should invest in public awareness campaigns to dispel myths and misconceptions about family planning and sexual reproductive health and rights.
She made the remarks while submitting the memorandum on County Fiscal Strategic paper 2023/2027 to the county assembly budget and economic planning and health services committees at the Kwale county assembly in Matuga subcounty.
The champions are among the beneficiaries of the Youth for Health programme.
It is a three-year initiative designed to enhanced adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights in Kwale and West Pokot counties.
The programme is being implemented by Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung and co-funded by the European Union in partnership with Marie Stopes Kenya and the Centre for the Study of Adolescence.
DSW project officer Stephen Kibindio said the initiative is to ensure youth and adolescent issues in matters of health and reproduction are well addressed.
He said they are pushing for the county to have adequate domestic funding in the health department so that youth who make up the majority of the population don't miss out on crucial health services such as access to HIV testing and counselling, family planning and maternal services among others.
County assembly budget committee chairperson Manza Beja assured the adolescents and youth that he will work with his health counterpart to improve the health budget to the required international standards.
He said starting Thursday, they will lobby for the idea at the assembly and hopefully by next week they will have gone through with the process of increasing the budget.
The county assembly health committee vice chairperson Tumaini Mwachaunga vowed to have the health budget improved terming it very crucial.
He said discussions are ongoing to fulfil some of the recommendations submitted via the memorandum.