Laikipia County To Unveil Its UHC Model At Health Conference
Updated on: Nov 08, 2019
Nanyuki, Laikipia, 8th November 2019............. Laikipia will unveil its UHC model at a conference of health stakeholders later this month, the county government has announced.
Preparations for the conference kicked off with the first ever health sector stakeholders meeting at Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital last week.
According to CECM for Health, Dr Lenai Kamario 62 percent of the countys population has a health insurance cover which is higher than the 37 percent national average.
The county model uses community health volunteers who use a mobile phone application known as M-Jali who move from house to house registering households to National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
In addition, the volunteers work under health officers to promote a preventive and promotive healthcare approach, with a keen focus on personal hygiene.
The volunteers have also been involved in key high impact interventions in malnutrition management, vitamin and iron supplementation and nutritional counseling. They are pivotal in the scaling up of child full immunization program in Laikipia, which currently stands at 79 percent, Dr Lenai said.
The conference is expected to bring together all the health actors to share their insights on health care provision activities. The county government will brief them on the steps that it has already put in place towards the realization of universal health coverage.
According to Dr Lenai the countys UHC model also involves the strengthening of the diagnostic capacity of lower level health facilities as well as preventive and promotive health activities.
This is expected to reinforce the countys health referral system as well as decongesting Nanyuki and Nyahururu referral hospitals resulting from self-referral by patients suffering from minor ailments that can be attended to at dispensaries and health centres.
There are also efforts to change the health seeking behavior of the people with an emphasis on preventive rather than curative healthcare.
Participants at the conference will include public and private medical providers, development partners, NGOs, special groups, the academia among others from within and outside the county.
The academia will be involved in bringing out case studies and research findings from within the county, the health executive said.
The experts will harmonize health data from across the county to help coordinate planning and interventions in health activities. The data will also be crucial prioritization of health actions and appropriate channeling of resources. Government agencies, researchers and development partners are also target beneficiaries of the accurate data base.
Preparations for the conference kicked off with the first ever health sector stakeholders meeting at Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital last week.
According to CECM for Health, Dr Lenai Kamario 62 percent of the countys population has a health insurance cover which is higher than the 37 percent national average.
The county model uses community health volunteers who use a mobile phone application known as M-Jali who move from house to house registering households to National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
In addition, the volunteers work under health officers to promote a preventive and promotive healthcare approach, with a keen focus on personal hygiene.
The volunteers have also been involved in key high impact interventions in malnutrition management, vitamin and iron supplementation and nutritional counseling. They are pivotal in the scaling up of child full immunization program in Laikipia, which currently stands at 79 percent, Dr Lenai said.
The conference is expected to bring together all the health actors to share their insights on health care provision activities. The county government will brief them on the steps that it has already put in place towards the realization of universal health coverage.
According to Dr Lenai the countys UHC model also involves the strengthening of the diagnostic capacity of lower level health facilities as well as preventive and promotive health activities.
This is expected to reinforce the countys health referral system as well as decongesting Nanyuki and Nyahururu referral hospitals resulting from self-referral by patients suffering from minor ailments that can be attended to at dispensaries and health centres.
There are also efforts to change the health seeking behavior of the people with an emphasis on preventive rather than curative healthcare.
Participants at the conference will include public and private medical providers, development partners, NGOs, special groups, the academia among others from within and outside the county.
The academia will be involved in bringing out case studies and research findings from within the county, the health executive said.
The experts will harmonize health data from across the county to help coordinate planning and interventions in health activities. The data will also be crucial prioritization of health actions and appropriate channeling of resources. Government agencies, researchers and development partners are also target beneficiaries of the accurate data base.
