•The allocation is to support various activities and programmes aimed at the attainment of UHC.
•This includes Sh7 billion that will go towards the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines and related expenditure and Sh4.1 billion for free maternity healthcare.
Image: Fredrick Omondi
The health sector has received more funding after the National Treasury allocated an additional Sh25.71 billion to support various programmes aimed at improving healthcare.
In the 2022-23 budget statement presented before Parliament on Thursday, the Health ministry received an allocation of Sh146.8 billion up from Sh121.09 billion in the 2021-22 budget.
This was also an increase from Sh111.7 billion the sector received in the 2020-21 budget.
Treasury CS Ukur Yatani allocated Sh62.3 billion towards the funding of Universal Health Coverage, an increase from Sh47.7 billion allocated towards UHC programmes in the 2021-22 budget.
The allocation is to support various activities and programmes aimed at the attainment of UHC.
This includes Sh7 billion that will go towards the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines and related expenditure and Sh4.1 billion for free maternity healthcare.
Another Sh5.2 billion will go towards the Managed Equipment Service project while Sh1.8 billion will go to the provision of medical cover for the elderly and severely disabled persons in the society.
“Better health outcomes depend on the availability, accessibility and capacity of health workers to deliver quality services anchored on well-equipped and provisioned facilities,” Yatani said.
"The government has implemented various initiatives laying the ground for achieving the goal of 100 per health insurance coverage.
"Key among these initiates include the free maternity programme dubbed Linda Mama which currently benefits over one million mothers annually."
Other initiates have been increasing the total number of healthcare workers in the public and private sector, investment in infrastructure and development of a digital platform to support effective monitoring.
In addition, the government enacted the NHIF amendment Act which provides for the establishment of a centralised healthcare provider management system to ensure efficient management and payment of claims as well as data collection.
The CS has further proposed an allocation of Sh16.2 billion towards the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB in the country with another Sh5.2 billion to enhance the vaccines and immunisation programme.
The Treasury in the last budget allocated Sh15.4 billion to go towards the Covid-19 response in the country.
Health spending in Kenya has been rising slowly since 2013, when the current government came to power.
Between 2013 and 2020, spending on health rose only by two percentage points, from 7.8 per cent in 2013 to 9.1 per cent. This is according to an analysis of both annual financial budgets of both national and county governments.
This still falls short of the Abuja Declaration and the government’s own commitment to health as laid out in the ruling Jubilee Party’s manifesto, which targeted 12 per cent by 2018-19.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)