A total of 191 Primary Care Networks (PCNs) have been established across the country out of the 315 earmarked, injecting fresh energy in the government’s efforts to implement Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the latest report reveals.

 The UHC aims to ensure that all Kenyans access and receive essential quality health services without suffering financial hardship.

 As of September 2023, Garissa had seven functional PCNs achieving a 100 per cent success rate followed by Kisumu and Nakuru with four units at 57 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.

 Out of the seven pilot counties in this assessment report as the government bids to revitalise Primary Healthcare (PHC), an avenue through which UHC is anchored, Mombasa and Makueni share fourth position with 2 PCNs each at 33 per cent.

 “Nyeri and Vihiga counties had not yet begun PCN implementation,” the report of the assessment of “Approaches to implementing and financing Primary Healthcare in Kenya: The case of Garissa, Kisumu, Makueni, Mombasa, Nakuru, Nyeri and Vihiga revealed during its launch in Nairobi.

This signals the country’s readiness for the scale up of the programme to the other 40 counties, stakeholders said.

 However, this is in the backdrop of constant low funding for PHC with only 1-8 per cent of county health expenditure allocated to preventive and promotive health services, the report noted. 

“Of the seven counties, only three allocated more than seven percent with Garissa allocating the highest at eight per cent; 7.5 per cent in Kisumu and seven per cent in Nakuru county,” the report, an outcome of a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Health, PATH, Unicef, Gates Foundation among other partners.

 Other key sources of funding included special programs such as Transforming Heath Systems and DANIDA, out of pocket payments and partner funding.

 “As the reality of diminishing donor funding dawns on counties, the NHIF has emerged as a key source of funding for PHC,” the authors of the report, a task done through desk review of various materials and interviews with county officials and other stakeholders working in the communities, pointed out.