The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has called on the government to increase budgetary allocation towards health.
KNCHR in a statement on Wednesday also raised concern over poor healthcare services, especially in public hospitals across the country.
Kenya is yet to attain the desired budgetary allocations on health of 15 per cent of the national GDP in line with the Abuja Declaration.
In the current 2023/2024 financial year, the allocation to the health sector as a proportion of the national budget was Sh141 billion, representing an 11 per cent allocation.
“The quality of healthcare services in public hospitals is grossly wanting as patients are offered sub-standard services owing to poor infrastructure, lack of essential medicines and lack of human personnel,” KNCHR chairperson Roseline Odede said.
The commission further raised concerns about the perennial shortage of healthcare providers across health facilities.
According to Odede, Kenya’s medical doctor-to-population ratio remains way below the UN World Health Organization recommendation of one to 600 as of 2020 with data showing that as of November 2021, the standing was one to 3,797.
Similarly, the commission noted that the ratio of nurses to patients and other healthcare providers falls below the WHO recommendations.
The commission has welcomed the progress realized in the number of live births that are assisted by a skilled provider from 41 per cent in 2003 to 89 per cent in 2022, according to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.
The report however revealed that the proportion of live births delivered by a skilled provider is lowest in Turkana (53 per cent), Mandera (55 per cent), Wajir (57 per cent), Samburu (57 per cent), and Tana River (59 per cent).
Of concern also is the number of women who received post-natal checks during the first two days after a live birth are lowest in Wajir (37 per cent), Marsabit (41 per cent), Meru (41 per cent), Garissa (45 per cent, and Mandera (46 per cent).
“The commission also joins the call for the protection of women and girls from obstetric violence,” Odede said.
The commission has also called for extensive public participation during the development of regulations under the new Social Health Insurance Act, 2023 and for wider public awareness of the provisions and implications of the new health laws.
Odede noted that despite the new health laws have been heralded as a game-changer in the provision of comprehensive and quality healthcare under universal health coverage, changing the premium contributions from monthly to annual will impose a great financial strain on Kenyans.
This, she said, will discourage new membership and lock needy households out from accessing care under the Act.
