- Health ministry, through Kenya Health Policy 2014-2030, aims to achieve a level of health that is commensurate with that of a middle-income country by 2030.
- Experience shows that the delivery of successful health programmes requires commitment and political support by leaders and decision-makers.
Image: FILE:
Democratic societies elect their leaders with the expectation that they will help solve the challenges they face and bring about positive changes.
Governments who are in power do this through policies that outline how they will go about addressing the needs and concerns of its citizens.
But challenges persist beyond a governments’ legislative period, making policies transitional in nature.
The Kenyan government has put several health policies that guarantee the highest attainable standard of health.
This includes reproductive health implemented through both the national government responsible for policy and county governments, which implement these policies and deliver health services.
The Ministry of Health, through the Kenya Health Policy 2014-2030, aims to achieve a level of health that is commensurate with that of a middle-income country by 2030.
Based on this, other specific policies have been developed, including the National Reproductive Health Policy 2022-2033, which was launched days before Kenya’s August 9 general election.
The policy reflects the commitment of the government to all persons in need of reproductive services of the highest standard. This policy is made operational through various strategy documents and guidelines.
Experience also shows that the delivery of successful health programmes requires commitment and political support by leaders and decision-makers, especially in resource-constrained settings. In other words, government policies and budgets can either support or hinder the delivery of health services.
Supportive policies and strategies help place delivery of health services high on the national and county development agenda and play a critical role in the resource bidding process. They also ensure that adequate resources are allocated to actualise the plans.
Following the classification of Kenya as a low middle-income country by World Bank in 2015, we have witnessed a reduction in donor support towards health, with the expectation that the country should be able to cover the costs through domestic financing.
It is, therefore, imperative that health, and especially reproductive health, is prioritised both at the national and county levels as part of this aid transition.
This commitment is well articulated in the current Kenya Kwanza government’s manifesto and Kenyans will be expecting them to honour their campaign pledges.
Also, counties are in the process of developing County Integrated Development Plan, which provide a framework for planning, budgeting, funding, monitoring and evaluating programmes and projects in a five-year period.
This ensures that implementing the government’s reproductive health policy, guidelines and strategies are well catered for and resources availed to safeguard the gains and accelerate progress towards Universal Health Coverage.
Through the CIDP, the counties ensure existing policies and programmes get adequate support for implementation.
The plan also provides an opportunity to highlight county health needs and linkage to the wider government agenda to achieve health for all.
As Kenyans, we have a constitutional duty anchored in the doctrine of public participation to ensure that our right to highest attainable reproductive health is upheld and prioritised.
Therefore, let’s scrutinise national and county budgets and demand that the funds for reproductive health are properly utilised.
Let us also examine whether CIDPs have a strong articulation of reproductive health as one of the key priorities.
Lastly, within the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act, counties can develop laws which permit them to confer upon health facilities some level of financial autonomy.
To our newly elected leaders, our reproductive health is important to us and so it is important to you too.
We, therefore, call on you to facilitate the implementation of the reproductive health policy by ensuring the right resources are available at the right time and look forward to a healthy and prosperous Kenya.
The writer is a policy and governance technical officer at Options Consultancy Services