Universal healthcare: Kenya's health sector at a turning point

Former Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa during a visit to the maternity ward at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, on January 16, 2025. [File, Standard]

Over the past decade, Kenya's health sector has undergone significant policy evolution, shaped by two major national development frameworks - the Big Four Agenda (2017-2022) and the current Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

Health has been prioritised under both frameworks as a social and economic pillar. It was initially framed around Universal Health Coverage (UHC) under the Big Four and is now integrated as a foundational enabler of inclusive economic growth under BETA.