State mulls over domestic funding for contraceptives as donors pull out

Dr Andrew Mulwa, the Acting Director of Medical Services at the Ministry of Health, said that every financial year, Kenya faces a Sh1.3 billion deficit in family planning financing. [Istockphoto]

The government is deliberating different avenues to bridge the financing gap for family planning as donor funding slowly shrinks following Kenya's declaration as a low middle-income economy.

Dr Andrew Mulwa, the Acting Director of Medical Services at the Ministry of Health, said that every financial year, Kenya faces a Sh1.3 billion deficit in family planning financing.

"With dwindling donor financing, the government is mulling over how to fill the family planning financing gaps since by 2026, all donors would have pulled out and we are expected to sustain the program through domestic financing," he said.

"In the 2013/14 financial year, we got donor funding to a tune of Sh2.3 billion which had been reduced to Sh777 million in the 2022/21 financial year, translating to a 60 per cent decline in donor funding," he added.

Dr Mulwa said the government has stepped up efforts towards self-sustainability of the program.

He said in the 2020/21 financial year, Sh559 million was spent on the program and another Sh863 million in the 2021/22 financial year.

"Without access to domestic financing, we shall have less family planning services which might result in a surge of the population," he said while urging men to consider vasectomy as a family planning method.