President William Ruto has announced plans to ensure the country attains Universal Health Coverage.
The area of focus will be on preventive and promotive health that aims to ensure health behaviour is embraced by Kenyans and keep diseases at bay.
Though the plan was announced by Ruto during the Madaraka Day celebrations in Embu on Thursday, the national and county governments will collaborate to invest in Community Health Promoters throughout the country.
Ruto said there will be one community health promoter assigned to handle every 100 households and will be tasked with visiting Kenyans at their homes to determine whether any conditions need to be managed through a healthier lifestyle or basic medical attention.
“They will also be tasked with enabling patients with chronic conditions to manage their medication, diet and general wellbeing in a manner that makes hospitalisation unnecessary,” Ruto said.
“The promoters will facilitate early detection of conditions for referral to comprehensive attention in the spirit of effective healthcare management.”
Ruto reiterated the government's commitment to delivering UHC that enables every Kenyan to attain dignified healthcare at the minimal cost of a subscription fee.
He said the National Health Insurance Fund is being reformed to meet the urgent needs of Kenyans at the bottom of the socio-economic structure.
In a meeting held between President Ruto and the Council of Governors in April, it was also agreed that the CHPs will be provided with standardised kits to undertake their health promotion work at the lowest levels in the communities.
Ruto has acknowledged that the CHPs are a critical component of the delivery of health since health is a devolved function.
