President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the piloting of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) with pomp and colour in Kisumu County on Thursday.
The pilot will run in four counties namely; Kisumu, Isiolo, Nyeri and Machakos and will provide free services at government hospitals.
“Starting now, all Kenyan residents in the four counties with a UHC or the Afya Care card will have access to free health services across public health facilities,” stated Uhuru.
Some of the services that will not attract charges are emergency services, child, maternal, and mental health.
Beneficiaries will also be offered other critical services including infectious disease management, noncommunicable diseases management, inpatient and outpatient and community health services.
The free services will only be available to registered residents of the pilot counties in government hospitals.
Uhuru noted, “The high cost of health pushes more than one million Kenyans into poverty every year with more left on the brink of financial ruin.”
It is reported that the government will pump Kshs3.1 billion into the ambitious Afya Care project that will leave out the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
The president stated that NHIF needed to be restructured to effectively support Afya Care following investigations into the loss of Kshs50 billion at the insurer in fraudulent claims.
He also called for reforms at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority to leverage on technology to boost drug supply.
