https://twitter.com/SicilyKariuki/status/1072783943206912001
As Kenya celebrates Jamhuri Day today, the rest of the world is marking the International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day), a day celebrated annually on December 12 and is promoted by the World Health Organization.
However, this year’s Universal Health Coverage Day is significant for as a country because it not only marks exactly one year since President Uhuru Kenyatta launched his Big 4 Agenda that includes UHC but also, it is the eve to the launch of the UHC pilot project.
The World Health Organization defines Universal Health as ensuring all people have access to quality preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitation and palliative health services regardless of their ability to pay.
The UHC Day aims to mobilize diverse stakeholders to call for stronger, more equitable health systems to achieve universal health coverage, leaving no one behind. It has become the annual rallying point for the growing global movement for Health for All with the United Nations resolution calling for all nations to provide for their citizens affordable, quality health care.
Universal health coverage has been included in the new Sustainable Development Goals for 2015-2030, adopted by the United Nations.
Universal Health is one of the pillars of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big 4 Agenda and it is not coincidence that the President will tomorrow be launching the pilot phase of the programme in Kisumu.
The Universal Health Coverage programme will be piloted in four counties in Kenya namely: Kisumu, Nyeri, Isiolo and Machakos.
During the piloting phase, the UHC package will cater for outpatient care such as consultation, mental illness and emergency health care with at least 3.2 million Kenyans expected to be beneficiaries of the health package during the piloting.
Inpatient care will include medical and surgical services, enhanced maternal and child health services and enhanced HIV, tuberculosis and malaria treatment while other public health services such as mosquito nets distribution, door-to-door immunisation, public health education, and screening for non-communicable diseases will also be issued.
Cabinet Secretary for Health Sicily Kariuki said that every Kenyan will be expected to register for the UHC before receiving health care services.
“Registration will be done by at the household level by community health volunteers,” said the Health CS.
She further said that the requirements for registration include an ID card, a birth certificate for children or a letter from the area chief. Every household will be issued with one UHC card to cover children below 18 years while those aged above 18 will each get their own UHC card which will be used to identify patients at health facilities.
Do you think the Universal Health Coverage programme in Kenya is set to succeed?