HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 1130307,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1130307/?format=api",
"text_counter": 146,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "s",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "To increase access to specialized medical services and decongest Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), my administration has upgraded two hospitals to referral status during my term. The upgraded hospitals are the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) and its Integrated Molecular Imaging Centre (IMIC) in Nairobi City County and the Othaya Annex Hospital in Nyeri County. The Othaya Annex is currently serving eight counties in the Central Kenya region. To ensure that access to healthcare is cascaded to the lowest administrative unit, Level 5 hospitals have increased by 44 per cent; Level 4 hospitals increased by nine per cent; Level 3 hospitals increased by 34 per cent and Level 2 hospitals increased by 49 per cent. Regarding affordability of healthcare, my administration has consistently increased the annual allocations to the Ministry of Health. Kenya has the highest budgetary allocation for health in East Africa, which currently stands at Kshs121.1 billion for the year 2021. Our sizable health budget will be used to expand access to primary healthcare services, ensure free maternity care, eliminate user fees for public primary care facilities, and subsidise health insurance for the elderly and people with severe disabilities. My administration also allocated Kshs900 million as conditional grants to support the implementation of free primary healthcare in all our 47 counties. The highest allocation of the conditional grants was to the Rift Valley region at Kshs247.19 million. The NHIF SUPA Cover launched in July, 2015 is another initiative of my administration to guarantee affordability of healthcare. Through this cover, dialysis patients and cancer patients are able to pay for their treatments locally or abroad, where the specific treatment is not available in the country‟s public hospitals. In the Financial Year 2019/2021, NHIF managed to pay for 4.44 million hospital visits; covering 1.43 million cases of inpatient services and 3.01 million cases of outpatient services. This in turn saved Kenyan households, approximately Kshs54.9 billion in financial losses brought about by health-related issues. With a monthly subscription of Kshs500, the NHIF SUPA Cover has become Kenya‟s largest, most reliable, accessible and affordable medical insurance cover. Over the last eight years of my administration, NHIF's membership has steadily grown. So far, the total NHIF membership stands at 10.5 million members, up from just four million members in 2013. Hon. Speakers, I acknowledge with appreciation that the National Assembly recently passed the National Hospital Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the same is now presently before the Senate. I, today, urge through you, Hon. Speaker, that the Senate expedites the consideration of the Bill, so that in the life of this House, we can all join in ushering UHC for all. Hon. Speakers, Hon. Members, let us tear down the barriers that inhibit our quest to deliver quality healthcare for all Kenyans. To improve the standard of our healthcare facilities, my administration has boosted bed capacity, improved access to medical equipment, and increased the number of medical training schools. In 2013, the total bed capacity in public health facilities was 56,069 hospital beds. This increased by 47 percent to 82,291 hospital beds in 2020. The North-Eastern Region of our country has experienced the highest expansion in hospital bed capacity, up from 2,443 hospital beds in 2013 to 4,566 hospital beds in 2021. This is followed by the Nyanza Region, which experienced an expansion in bed capacity of 63 per cent from 9,249 hospital beds in 2013 to 15,054 hospital beds in 2021. Nairobi has experienced an expansion of 57 per cent from 7,866 hospital beds in 2013 to 10,399 hospital beds in 2021."
}