The Ministry of Health will from Monday host a Universal Health Coverage exhibition and conference in Kericho County.
The four-day exhibition and conference will take place at Kaptatet Stadium ahead of the Mashujaa Day celebrations.
According to the ministry, the event serves as a precursor to the grand launch of UHC on Mashujaa Day which will be taking place on Friday, October in Kericho.
The theme for this year's celebrations is Universal Health Care.
One Hundred thousand Community Health Promoters are expected to be unveiled on that day by President William Ruto.
The celebrations will start with the UHC week which will run for a week before Mashujaa Day.
“The event will spotlight the ministry's objectives in the journey towards UHC, which include establishing functional Primary Healthcare Networks (PCNs) and cultivating a motivated and skilled community health workforce,” the ministry said in a statement.
Other objectives include enhancing comprehensive community health services, rolling out electronic Community Health Information Systems (e-CHIS) and ensuring the rational distribution of community health commodities and supplies.
The ministry has further noted that UHC signifies the promise of equitable access to quality essential healthcare services for every Kenyan, adding that the commitment goes beyond mere political rhetoric as it serves as a guiding light for socio-economic transformation.
“This event underscores the ministry’s unwavering dedication to transitioning the country's healthcare system away from costly curative services and towards preventive and promotive healthcare,” the statement reads.
“It places a significant emphasis on the central role of Primary Health Care (PHC) in achieving UHC, particularly focusing on promotive and preventive services, as well as community-centered care,” it adds.
The ministry has further noted that the plan to implement UHC has seen notable progress including the launch of 100,000 Community Health Promoters (CHPs) kits and a comprehensive assessment of over 14,000 healthcare facilities nationwide.
This comes barely days after the ministry hosted a local healthcare manufacturing expo and conference.
The Expo was designed to showcase the remarkable capacities of the local manufacturing sector, specifically in the production of a wide range of health products.
The government has in the recent past emphasised the need for local manufacturing as a key intervention in ensuring access to affordable healthcare by citizens and at the same time to attain UHC.