• Uhuru said no Kenyan should leave the country to receive medical care that they require.
• Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said the launch of the biometric registration of indigents into the UHC is the beginning of a new journey that is expected to have some challenges ahead.
President Uhuru on Saturday launched the biometric registration of a million indigents into the Universal Health Coverage program. Indigents are extremely poor and vulnerable individuals who cannot afford to pay for medical care.
President Uhuru on Saturday launched the biometric registration of a million indigents into the Universal Health Coverage program.
Indigents are extremely poor and vulnerable individuals who cannot afford to pay for medical care.
Speaking during the launch at Whitesands Hotel in Mombasa, Uhuru directed the Health and Labour ministries to immediately embark on the exercise of identifying and registering the indigents.
County governments will also be assisting the exercise.
Expressing confidence in Kenya's ability to succeed with UHC, Uhuru urged Parliament to fast-track the necessary legislation required to fully implement the program.
"Don't delay this with unnecessary debates," Uhuru said.
"We all know where we want to go. This is no time to show us your prowess in debates."
He said no Kenyan should leave the country to receive medical care that they require.
"We want a Kenya where every person, regardless of their financial status, is able to get quality healthcare anywhere in this country," Uhuru said.
Since the UHC pilot program was launched in the four counties of Kisumu, Nyeri, Machakos and Isiolo, there has been an increment of 1.6 million hospital visits across the counties.
He said a healthy nation is a productive nation.
Uhuru said it is unfortunate that medical bills have impoverished some families in the country, reducing the to destitute.
"This should not happen again," said Uhuru.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said the launch of the biometric registration of indigents into the UHC is the beginning of a new journey that is expected to have some challenges ahead.
"We have a new baby in town with teething problems. We expect challenges, but we will be addressing the challenges as they come," said Kagwe.
Council of Governors Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said all counties believe in and are committed to the implementation of the UHC program.
He described the program one of the major legacies of President Uhuru's presidency should it succeed.
However, he said for effective implementation of the policies that will guide the UHC, funds must be made available to the counties.
He said Kenya has brilliant brains but lacks trust in each other.
"Because there is not trust, implementation becomes a problem,' said the Kakamega Governor.
He said counties must have a say in NHIF so as to ensure there is a smooth flow of funds to the proposed UHC Fund.
Currently, there is only one representative of counties in Kemsa board.
"Since 70 per cent of these medicines go to counties, we should have 70 per cent representation in Kemsa," said Oparanya.
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho said counties have been striving to improve infrastructure and human resource capacities in preparation for the UHC rollout.
He said priority should be given to public hospitals when it comes to reimbursement of payments by NHIF.
NHIF CEO Peter Kamunya said there are at least 9.1 million households in the NHIF database.
This translates to about 22 million people.
He said the biometric registration will be easy and fast and will secure the integrity of the fund.