Kitui County launched Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program in Mutomo, Kitui South on Friday.
The event which was graced by National Health Insurance Fund CEO Peter Kamunyu and Governor Charity Ngilu was hailed as a game-changer in healthcare in the county.
“The Kitui-UHC will cover 85,000 households in this financial year. The National Government through the initiative of His Excellency the President has covered another 31,000 beneficiaries, therefore bringing the total to 116,000 households,” Ngilu said.
Residents will be required to pay Sh 3,000 while the county government will top up another Sh 3,000 per family in a year.
She thanked stakeholders including NHIF, Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) and Catholic Mission Medical Board (CMMB) for helping the county in the supply of medicine and non-pharmaceutical items.
Ngilu said that 90 per cent of residents depend on public health facilities which place huge demand for the county government to allocate resources to meet this demand.