Universal Healthcare Coverage: Why it is everybody’s business

Surgeons from the Kenyatta National Hospital conduct a surgery on children with clef palate condition at the Meru Level Five hospital on May 29, 2018. [Darlington Manyara, Standard]

Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC) is something we are hearing of more and more, yet few of us have bothered to understand our roles. We know that it’s on the President’s Big Four agenda list, and has something to do with insurance, but details are hazy.

Definitions of UHC vary, but most agree that it has to do with availing certain priority health services to all citizens without their need to pay at the point of use, and, ensuring that the services are of good quality and that they meet the users’ expectations.