Lower health budget undermines bid to attain universal healthcare

Cesarean section women with their babies at the Makueni Mother and child hospital on August 10, 2021. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Kenya's commitment towards ensuring access to health for all is enshrined in the Constitution. Article 43 provides that every person has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care.

To actualise the constitutional commitment, several policies, institutional and legislative frameworks have been established as well as significant budgetary allocations over the years. However, in this year's budget, the Ministry of Health was allocated Sh141.2 billion, which is 11 per cent of the total amount of budget, but is down from Sh146.8 billion allocated in 2022/23.