Mailu unveils plan to raise health budget

Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu Photo:Courtesy

The Government plans to increase the health budgetary allocation to at least Sh78 billion by 2022 in the push for universal health coverage.

Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu said the increase would be done gradually from the current seven per cent of the total budget to the expected 10 per cent.

In the 2017/18 budget, the ministry was allocated Sh54.9 billion and allowed tax exemption on medical equipment.

Dr Mailu said the increase would go hand in hand with provision of a conducive environment for investment in the health sector considering that Kenya was still dependent on foreign funding.

“Currently, the public health sector accounts for 55 per cent of health services,” said Mailu.

Details of the planned increase in budgetary allocation made part of the presentation Mailu made at a universal health care conference in Tokyo, Japan, recently.

To improve the availability of services, Mailu said the ministry had a defined and comprehensive essential package for all Kenyans.

“At the same time, new services have been introduced under the National Health Insurance Fund Scheme (NHIF),” he said.

The social insurer recently announced plans to roll out a rapid registration exercise to increase the number of subscribers by two million every year in order to reach the target of 20 million principal contributors.

In the next one year, Mailu said, the Government also plans to enlist  100,000 community health volunteers to recruit 20 households each in efforts to boost the subscription of citizens to the NHIF.