While donor funding to Kenya’s healthcare system has thankfully been declining, it has also become dangerously concentrated.
Four donors accounted for most of health official development assistance to Kenya in the last five years.
More alarmingly, specific health sectors—most notably immunisation, HIV, tuberculosis and malaria—are almost wholly dependent on less than five donors.
In HIV control, the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) has remained the backbone of Kenya’s response for two decades.
This heavy reliance places Kenya in a vulnerable position.
The announcement by President Donald Trump to reassess US donor funds serves as a stark reminder that foreign aid is neither guaranteed nor sustainable.
The US has already begun withdrawing from the WHO, which further destabilises global health funding.
Any sudden reduction or redirection of funds could cripple critical health programmes and leave millions of Kenyans without essential services.
Kenya must prioritise increasing domestic health financing, mobilising local resources, spending taxes wisely, sealing corruption loopholes and forging new bilateral health partnerships beyond traditional donors.
HISTORICAL QUOTE
“This is still a dangerous world. It’s a
world of madmen and uncertainty, and
potential mental losses.”
GEORGE W BUSH
The 43rd US president announced President’s Emergency
Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) on January 28, 2003.