Govt plans to improve healthcare access for 15m Kenyans in the next 5 years

Govt plans to improve healthcare access for 15m Kenyans in the next 5 yearsThe Ministry of Health intends to double the number of Kenyans accessing healthcare financing from the current 6 million to 15 million within the next five years.

This will be done through the acceleration of NHIF enrolment targets and engaging innovative healthcare financing mechanisms.

The revelation were made on Monday September 11, 2017 by the Principal Secretary for Health, Mr. Julius Korir, during a meeting to discuss the Health sector Medium Term Plan (MTP) III, held at Afya Annex.

The MTP III is expected to improve access to health services and transform healthcare in terms of quality and patient handling.

With MTP III “Cost should no longer be a barrier to healthcare access,” emphasized the PS.

The plan prioritizes cancer treatment in the country given that cancer is a leading cause of death and catastrophic spending.

Other priority areas to be incorporated in the MTP III, include water and sanitation, healthcare Information Technology and increase of referral hospitals from the current four to 10.

“In the future Public Health Facilities shall be the preferred option for citizens,” stressed the PS.

The Kenya Medical Training College is in the process of establishing a centre of excellence in healthcare management that will offer diploma courses to medics who wish to specialise their careers in the area of healthcare management.