President William Ruto on Monday, April 24, announced that he will drop his push to have employers match their employees' contributions to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF)
Speaking during the launch of the CyberKnife at Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital, the Head of State admitted that the proposal would beat the logic of having affordable healthcare.
"We look forward to a scheme that does not put costs ahead of service in order to support universal health coverage and expand its operational capacity.
"We have agreed with some of the proposals by our partners that there is no need for marching our contributions on health," Ruto stated.
The Head of State revealed that he and his team from the Ministry of Health were working on new amendments to the NHIF Act which would be presented to the Parliament.
He expressed hope that once the legislation was finalised and approved, the country would realise UHC which he argued failed to kick off twice.
Ruto further proposed a shift in the health sector from the conventional provision of curative health.
"We have to focus our energy on preventive and promotive situations as a way of minimising cost and arresting situations at the earliest possible time," the President noted.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral, and Research Hospital Prof Olive Mugenda lauded the launch of the CyberKnife technology.
"The equipment will be used for precision treatment to ensure that tumors in various parts of the body are treated accurately.
"It will increase the range of management options for various conditions and will be a painless alternative to conventional surgery for cancerous and non-cancerous tumors," Mugenda explained.
She assured the President that treatment using the technology would start in two weeks after engineers conduct the final test.
Mugenda confirmed that the service would be available to all Kenyans who have signed up for NHIF.
