| Literature DB >> 26925910 |
Timothy Chrispinus Okech1, Steve Ltumbesi Lelegwe.
Abstract
Kenya has made progress towards universal health coverage as evidenced in the various policy initiatives and reforms that have been implemented in the country since independence. The purpose of this analysis was to critically review the various initiatives that the government of Kenya has over the years initiated towards the realization of Universal Health Care (UHC) and how this has impacted on health equity. The paper relied heavly on secondary sources of information although primary data data was collected. Whereas secondary data was largely collected through critical review of policy documents and commissioned studies by the Ministry of Health and development partners, primary data was collected through interviews with various stakeholders involved in UHC including policy makers, implementers, researchers and health service providers. Key findings include commitment towards UHC; minimal solidarity in health care financing; cases of dysfunctionalilty of health care system; minimal opportunities for continuous medical training; quality concerns in terms of stock-outs of drugs and other medical supplies, dilapidated health infrastructure and inadequqte number of health workers. Other findings include governance concerns at NHIF coupled with, high operational costs, low capitation, fraud at facility levels, low pay out ratio, accreditation of facilities, and narrowness of the benefit package, among others. In lieu of these, various recommendations have been suggested. Among these include promotion of solidarty in health care financing that are reliable and economical in collecting; political will to enhance commitment towards devolution of health care, engagement of various stakeholders at both county and national government in fast tracking the enactment of Health Act; investment in health infrastructure and training of human resources; revamping NHIF into a full-fledged social health insurance scheme, and enhancing capacity of NHIF human resources, enhanced awareness amongst members, enhanced benefit package among other recommendations.Entities:
Mesh:
Year: 2015 PMID: 26925910 PMCID: PMC4965667 DOI: 10.5539/gjhs.v8n7p218
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Glob J Health Sci ISSN: 1916-9736
Figure 1Universal Health Coverage
Figure 2Trend in Child Mortality over years
Figure 3Revenue collection trend
Figure 4Membership Trends over the last five years
Leading Causes of Deaths and Disabilities in Kenya
| Causes of deaths | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Disease/injury | % total deaths | Rank | Disease/injury | % total deaths | |
| 1 | HIV/AIDS | 29.3 | 1 | HIV/AIDS | 24.2 | |
| 2 | Conditions arising during perinatal period | 9.0 | 2 | Conditions arising during perinatal period | 10.7 | |
| 3 | Lower respiratory infections | 8.1 | 3 | Malaria | 7.2 | |
| 4 | Tuberculosis | 6.3 | 4 | Lower respiratory infections | 7.1 | |
| 5 | Diarrheal diseases | 6.0 | 5 | Diarrhoeal diseases | 6.0 | |
| 6 | Malaria | 5.8 | 6 | Tuberculosis | 4.8 | |
| 7 | Cerebrovascular disease | 3.3 | 7 | Road traffic accidents | 2.0 | |
| 8 | Ischemic heart disease | 2.8 | 8 | Congenital anomalies | 1.7 | |
| 9 | Road traffic accidents | 1.9 | 9 | Violence | 1.6 | |
| 10 | Violence | 1.6 | 10 | Unipolar depressive disorders | 1.5 | |
Source: GoK, 2010; Draft Health Policy, 2012; Okech, 2014, 2012.
The NHIF Social Scheme Pay Out Ratio for the last five years:
| NHIF Payout Ratio(Social Scheme) FY 2010/11 - 2014/15 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Year | Revenue (ksh) | Amount Paid | Pay out Ratio |
| 2010/11 | 6,144,943,782 | 3,544,610,192 | 58% |
| 2011/12 | 7,044,007,247 | 3,922,926,916 | 56% |
| 2012/13 | 6,998,302,722 | 4,687,260,049 | 67% |
| 2013/14 | 8,794,919,307 | 5,627,232,594 | 64% |
| 2014/15 | 14,095,952,374 | 6,438,901,590 | 46% |
Source: NHIF, 2015.