The Director General said this when he met with Minister for Health Cleopa Mailu on Wednesday during his official visit to the country/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 10 – World Health Organization (WHO) has pledged to support Kenya in making Universal Health Coverage a reality.
According to the Organization’s General Director Tedros Adhanon, WHO will work hand in hand with the Government of Kenya to ensure that all Kenyans have access to quality health care.
“Universal Health Coverage is a priority to World Health Organization and so I am happy that the President of Kenya has listed it among the four pillars in his second term I therefore want to assure him that WHO is fully in support of that agenda,” said Adhanon.
The Director General said this when he met with Minister for Health Cleopa Mailu on Wednesday during his official visit to the country.
He said the purpose of his visit would be to discuss the progress that Kenya has made so far in the health sector and also to discuss on how they can strengthen WHO cooperation with Kenya.
He said he was impressed that health forms part of President Kenyatta’s second term deliverables.
This being his first official visit to Kenya, will also include a courtesy call and meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta, signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UNEP, and a visit to Kiambu Hospital.
The MOU will focus on a collaborative effort between the two agencies on matters health and environment and particularly the working mechanisms and implementation of the UNEA III resolutions on Air Pollution, Health and Environment, Chemicals, Water and Sanitation as part of the wider “Health, Environment and Climate Change Coalition.
Mailu said WHO Director’s visit will help them in pushing the agenda of universal health coverage forward.
“World Health Organization is going to be very critical in terms of policy and guiding us to be able to get it right as we move forward,” said Mailu.
Mailu also stated that WHO is a key player in realizing 2030 Vision in the Health sector whose aim is to provide an efficient integrated and high quality affordable health care to all citizens. Priority will be given to preventive care at community and household levels, through a decentralized national health-care system.
President Uhuru Kenyatta outlined his Big Four growth agenda in his second term, which targets affordable healthcare for all, food security, housing and manufacturing.
He promised to expand the National Health Insurance Fund to cover more Kenyans.
Kenyatta also directed the ministries of Education and Health to enrol all 3 million secondary school students into the NHIF program with effect from January 2018.
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