Public-private partnership vital in healthcare funding

Richard Ngatia, chairman of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce, Nairobi Chapter

For many Kenyans without health insurance, falling sick can at best become a financial crisis and at worse, a death sentence. Quite often, many people have had to turn to friends and relatives to clear medical bills and meet funeral expenses for their loved one. It is for this reason that legislative organs need to be supportive of the funding model for provision of healthcare where private capital comes in to support the government.

A lot of resources and time go into enabling the private sector jump in to the complementation of social services which often are essential, especially to the most disadvantaged. Rather than frustrate the efforts intended to help achieve service provision, right to oversight granted, legislators should be an enabling arm since the people they represent are the immediate beneficiaries. This is where we must appreciate that while the government might mean well for its people, scarcity of resources translates into long waiting periods for execution - but at the cost of lives.