What are the challenges facing universal health care in Kenya?
Asked by: Miss Zaria Carter | Last update: July 7, 2025Score: 4.4/5 (28 votes)
What are the challenges of universal health coverage in Kenya?
The study found that provision of universal health care has its challenges in Kenya which are shortage of government budgetary resources, weak health systems, high poverty levels, reaching vulnerable people, selecting the right package of benefits, integration of the informal sector, and misuse of resource.
What are the challenges facing Kenya's healthcare system?
However, the sector in nearly all counties is currently bedevilled with monumental challenges ranging from capacity gaps, human resource deficiency, lack of critical legal and institutional infrastructure, rampant corruption and a conflictual relationship with the national government.
What are the challenges of universal healthcare?
A wide range of challenges present barriers to progress on UHC. On a broader national level, these include lack of coordination within and between health departments and other agencies, inadequate human resources for services delivery, and insufficient financial allocations.
What are the main health problems in Kenya?
Tropical diseases, especially malaria and tuberculosis, have long been a public health problem in Kenya. In recent years, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), also has become a severe problem.
Challenges in Kenya's healthcare systems
What is the healthcare inequality in Kenya?
A quarter of the Kenyan population regularly lack access to healthcare. A recent study estimated that nearly 2.6 million people fall into poverty or remain poor due to ill health each year. 6%Gender inequality is prevalent in Kenya.
Does Kenya have good healthcare?
Healthcare in Kenya is accessible to everyone, including expats, global citizens and tourists. The quality of healthcare for expats in Kenya varies, depending on location, hospital, and type of ailment. The standard of public healthcare in Kenya is generally not up to western standards.
What is the biggest argument against universal healthcare?
From an individualistic perspective, the greatest argument against universal healthcare might be that each individual would likely lose a degree of choice. Under privatized care, individuals can choose their health insurance from different plans that fit their needs.
What is the UHC policy in Kenya?
DESCRIPTION: The Universal Health Coverage Policy 2020-2030 conveys the health sector policy directions, strategies and implementation framework for the period between 2020 and 2030. Its goal is 'To ensure all Kenyans have access to essential quality health services without suffering financial hardship.
What is the biggest challenge facing healthcare?
- Rising Costs of Healthcare Services.
- Financial Challenges for Providers.
- Shortage of Healthcare Professionals.
- The Need for Improved Mental Health Systems.
- Increased Demand for Personalized Care.
- Big Data and Cybersecurity Issues.
What are the three biggest challenges facing Kenya's government?
Kenya's government faces the challenge of meeting its debt obligations, while avoiding further unrest. President William Ruto must find ways to raise money, manage the economic recovery from Covid-19 and respond to the threat of climate change. William Ruto was elected as Kenya's fifth president in September 2022.
What is the structure of the health care system in Kenya?
The Kenyan health system defines six levels of the hierarchy, as follows: level 1, community services; level 2, dispensaries and clinics; level 3, health centres and maternity and nursing homes; level 4, sub-county hospitals and medium-sized private hospitals; level 5, county referral hospitals and large private ...
What is the shortage of health workers in Kenya?
While patients flood healthcare facilities seeking medical care, there is an acute shortage of healthcare workers behind the scenes. According to WHO's Global Health Observatory data, an average of only 53 skilled health workers serves every 10,000 people in Kenya.
What are two disadvantages to universal healthcare?
Beyond individual and federal costs, other common arguments against universal healthcare include the potential for general system inefficiency, including lengthy wait-times for patients and a hampering of medical entrepreneurship and innovation [3,12,15,16].
Who pays for healthcare in Kenya?
Kenya's health system is financed through four main sources: government, out of pocket (households), donors, and private-estimated at 45.98%, 24.3%, 18.51%, and 35.51% of total health expenditure in 2018/19 [12].
What are the challenges facing universal primary education in Kenya?
The current study highlights the challenges of free primary education in fighting illiteracy. Some of the challenges identified included Under Staffing, Poor working conditions, inadequate funding, Kenya's primary Education system and acquisition of literacy and Lack of school libraries.
Why did UHC fail in Kenya?
The manner in which NHIF would work as a mechanism for health financing has proved complex and with these persistent gaps, the health benefits package remains inaccessible. Other challenges to governance of UHC structures include the delay in the transfer of funds from national government to county governments.
What are the challenges facing the implementation of health policy in Kenya?
Some of the key issues highlighted were: Limited access to health care facilities, lack of adequate personnel and expertise to address the medical needs, poor Infrastructure where most facilities do not have the proper facilities to handle the medical challenges, ironically the facilities that are highly equipped with ...
What are the health issues in Kenya?
Kenya faces the double burden of both persistent communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory illness and malaria, and the emergent and fast rising non- communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, various forms of cancer, and diabetes.
What are the challenges of universal health coverage?
The main challenges related to UHC concerning creating resource are inadequate human resources and health workers [1,3,5,18–21,23,25]; challenges related to the production, performance, and distribution of health workers [5,25]; inadequate medical facilities for public hospitals and community health centers [25,29]; ...
Which country has the best healthcare?
- Australia (74.11)
- Canada (71.32)
- Sweden (70.73)
- Ireland (67.99)
- Netherlands (65.38)
- Germany (64.66)
- Norway (64.63)
- Israel (61.73)
Who pays for universal healthcare?
Most universal health care systems are funded primarily by tax revenue (as in Portugal, India, Spain, Denmark and Sweden). Some nations, such as Germany, France, and Japan, employ a multi-payer system in which health care is funded by private and public contributions.
Is there universal healthcare in Kenya?
The new Social Health Insurance Fund – implemented across the country from October 2024 – replaces the 58-year-old National Health Insurance Fund and aims to provide all Kenyans with quality healthcare. Under the Social Health Insurance Act, passed in 2023, the new scheme mandates health coverage for all.
What are the 4 tiers of health care system in Kenya?
The tiers are organized from 1 to 4; where Tier 1 is the community health services ; Tier 2- Dispensaries and Health Centres (primary care services); Tier 3 - Sub County and County hospitals; and Tier 4 - referral hospitals including former provincial, national/tertiary health facilities.