Council of governors says they are not well involved in the roll out of Universal Health Coverage.
Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya said up to date, the national government has kept them in the dark and counties that are piloting the programme are already facing challenges.
“At the moment, no proper consultation has been done between the national government and county government. We might likely have a consultation with the government next week, but I fear that it is coming at the tail end, when pilot programme has already begun in four counties”
Kakamega boss also called upon the government to reform some institutions such as NHIF and Kemsa. He said the two institutions are pivotal in implementing UHC.
“Kemsa has been a problem in making sure that the drugs that we order are delivered in time. We at times order drugs but told they are out of stock”
His comments touching on Kemsa come after Nairobi governor Mike Sonko had blamed the authority and directed his executive members to source for an alternative medicines supplier.
He said his county government will work closely with national government to support the programme.
He urged residents of Kakamega to come out in large numbers and register, adding that it will save lives and end poverty.
He also said the launch of Huduma Namba will be useful even for his county in ensuring that service delivery is effective.
Oparanya added that through his partnership with Unicef under 'Oparanya Care Programme', 39,000 mothers accessed safe delivery and full support care.
Kakamega boss also said that his government is processing plans to accommodate retired health workers in order to improve health at grassroots.
“We are working towards introducing new health measures, such as ‘doctor in the box telemedicine’ by using the services of the health workers who have retired from the services so as to treat at the community level,” he said.
UHC was launched last December in Kisumu county by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The President directed that reforms should be made in Kemsa to allow for an uninterrupted supply of quality essential medicines and medical commodities, leveraging on existing technology to forecast needs and manage logistics.
Other counties piloting the programme are Isiolo, Nyeri and Machakos.
