Uhuru Encourages Leaders To Educate Communities On UHC

President Uhuru Kenyatta has called on leaders and politicians to sensitize communities in Kenya concerning the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

The president was speaking during the 74^th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), that is ongoing at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, United States.

In the fora where world leaders convene and get a chance to highlight the issues that matter most to their countries, President Uhuru got his fifteen-minute chance during the afternoon session on September 24^th to highlight issues affecting Kenyans.

The president spoke about Kenya’s journey to achieving it’s UHC goals and the general practices put in place by both the government and citizens towards its achievement.

He said that his government realizes that in order for UHC to be a success, it has to be a joint effort by the government and all stakeholders to ensure the reinforcement of the much needed social accountability and the success of service delivery.

“UHC ought to be a shared vision among all political leaders and actors. In a country like Kenya, where there is more than one level of government, there has to be an integrated approach and health system-wide approach,” said Uhuru.

He commended Kenyans for having improved their health-seeking behaviors and the concerned stakeholders in the health sector for improving healthcare conditions and services such as admissions.

“The health care sector has tremendously improved. My government is determined to see that there are effective basic health care and effective technological advances to provide needed attention available at even the lowest healthcare facilities,” he said.

Contrary to the president’s address on the achievement of UHC, an earlier survey had shown that only a small percentage of Kenyans with post-secondary education are even aware of what UHC program is all about.

Of those that are aware, there is still a problem of lack of understanding of how the program works and are therefore not likely to sign up for it.

The UHC program is envisioned to be fully rolled out in all counties by the year 2022. The first phase was done on only four counties, which are Nyeri, Isiolo, Kisumu, and Machakos.