County Health standard of health in a manner responsive to the needs of the population ” and further proposes “ a comprehensive and innovative approach to harness and synergize health services delivery ” in the country .
National and county governments allocated less than 10 per cent of their respective health budgets to medicine amidst reported cases of insufficient drugs at the public health facilities in the country . Shortage of drugs at public facilities increases cost of treatment as patients result to buying medicine at a higher cost in private hospitals and pharmacies .
A report tabled late last year at the Nairobi City County Assembly identified insufficient drugs at the county health facilities as a challenge to provision of quality health care .
According to the report by the County Sectorial Committee on Health Services , Kenya Medical Supplies Agency ( KEMSA ), public hospitals drug supplier , had not delivered drugs to Umoja 1 and Jericho health centers for over a year . Reasons for lack of drugs supply to the facilities were however not clear .
Tabling the report , committee chairman Manoah Mboku called on speedy supply of drugs to all health facilities and urged the county to employ more doctors to meet high number of patients at government hospitals .
“ The issue of drug supplies to the facilities must be resolved immediately and future supplies to all other county health facilities be processed and delivered on time ,” Mboku said after tabling the report .
A joint report by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) and the World Bank released last year cites cost of treatment as a barrier to achieving universal health coverage . The report titled Tracking Universal Health Coverage also says that out of pocket payments- direct payment made to health-care providers by individuals at the time of service- is a cost burden to poor people and calls for increased government expenditure on health services to lower cost of treatment . Out of pocket expenditure include costs of medication , doctors ’ consultation fees and hospital bills .
“ Using out of pocket payment to fund health systems presents a number of disadvantages , but among the most important is that it discourages people from seeking care . This is especially true for poorer people , who must often choose between paying for health and paying for other necessities such as food or rent . For people who feel they simply must seek treatment – for the growing lump in the breast or the fever that will not go down – there is the risk of impoverishment or even destitution ,” the report reads in part .
According to Kenya National Health Accounts , out-of pocket expenditures as a percentage of total health expenditure in the country currently stands at 40 per cent , a high proportion relative to World Bank projections of 2013 that between 34 and 42 percent of Kenyans live below the poverty line .
WHO classifies as “ catastrophic ” any out of pocket expenditure on healthcare exceeding 25 per cent of household budget and warns that direct health expenditures can impoverish rich families .
According to World Health Statistics 2016 released by WHO , 2 per cent of Kenyan households were pushed below the poverty line by health expenditure while 3 per cent of families spent over 25 per cent of their household budget on health expenditure between 2002 and 2012 .
Health budget in Kenya increased this fiscal year after the government allocated Sh60.269 billion to the Ministry of Health , as the government accelerates efforts to achieve universal health coverage and provide free maternal care . Recurrent expenditure was allocated Sh 29.090 while development expenditure was allocated Sh 31.179 , about 52 per cent of the total health budget .
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