Today marks yet another milestone in our quest to provide quality free healthcare to our people. The right to quality care is enshrined in our constitution under the bill of rights. It is in this spirit, that we have transformed our health sector from one of the worst before devolution to one of the best today. This was achieved through deliberate priority resource allocation to the health sector over the years and injecting professionalism in its management. A large number of Kenyans pay for health services out of pocket, leading to greater financial strain and hence pushing families into poverty. It is against this back drop that H.E President Uhuru made Health one of his big 4 agenda. UHC scale up entails output financing model through UHC scheme nested in NHIF. It is therefore extremely important that NHIF reforms must succeed for success of UHC. Delay in re-imbursement of monies owed to the public health facilities should be a thing of the past.
Mandera County Government has been providing free health care services across all primary health care facilities numbering 91(19 health centers and 72 Dispensaries). At the same time, all Reproductive, maternal and child health services, Tb & HIV care is also free at all level 4 and 5 Facilities.
The beneficiaries identified and biometrically being registered today, numbering 21,573 households include the very poor, vulnerable and persons living with disability who will be supported progressively through insurance subsidies. The acquisition of NHIF card removes the headache of any fees to be paid for services across all public health facilities and as such I encourage all persons who can afford the little premiums of Kshs. 500 to enroll.
On Covid-19 situation in our County, like all other parts of Kenya, the 4th wave is characterized by severe form of the disease with high mortality. The ministry of health is doing all it can to educate the public on the dangers of covid-19, while also treating all severe cases for free. It is prudent that every person takes personal responsibility by adhering to set guidelines. Covid vaccine is free and available across all level 4 health facilities. I therefore, would like to urge you all to get vaccinated. Since July 2021, all covid-19 admissions and deaths were persons who did not take the vaccine. This goes to show that vaccines indeed prevent/reduce chances of hospitalization due to severe cases as well as deaths from the same.
Finally, I urge NHIF Mandera office to work closely with the County Government through ministry of health so as to ensure the best possible health service delivery. With this, I now declare the UHC Biometric registration exercise in Mandera County officially open.
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