Kisumu County Health Department in partnership with IFC and Pharm Access Foundation have developed a concept that will see the county attain 100% Universal Healthcare Coverage by the year 2022 for the residents.
The concept has been born of the initiative by Governor Anyang' Nyong'o when he hosted a health status forum in Kisumu in December 2017.
This four strategy plan that will see all the 1.6 million residents of the county have mandatory access to healthcare coverage will kick off at the turn of this financial year.
It will see upgrades to most county hospitals to be able to perform certain medical procedures such as functional laboratories and radiology services.
The strategy that is aligned to demand and supply is modelled on inclusivity, ownership, sustainability and accountability.
Prof. Khama Rogo of IFC who has been leading the technical team on this project said that this 759 million 4 year venture was meticulously thought and will balance itself in the county fiscal books but with a rider that the health facilities must be run as business models.
Governor Nyong'o who was the architect of the current government healthcare coverage under NHIF, which he pushed through with support from IFC and the Rockefeller Foundation during his tenure as the Minister of Medical Services during the Narc government was emphatic that this plan must be implemented and it will not be business as usual in the running of county health facilities.
During the meeting on Thursday, Nyong'o noted that with increased uptake of the healthcare coverage, the county health facilities will stand to gain more from the NHIF capitation which currently stands at 15% of the total 600 million coming to the public, private and faith based county facilities.
"This figure has the potential to rise to 1 billion with the implementation of the healthcare coverage strategy," said Nyong'o.
He instructed the team to hit the ground running and ensure that the first phase is implemented on schedule.