Legislator to counties: Give healthcare more cash
County governments have been urged to invest more funds in developing healthcare infrastructure to support the devolution of health services.
Mandera East MP Omar Salah said improving the quality of healthcare facilities, will reduce financial and logistical pressure on the main referral hospitals in the country.
“County governments must step up their game and complement the national governments efforts, in realising President Uhuru Kenyatta’s dreams of achieving affordable health care,” he said.
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Salah added: “When devolution came, many county governments bought ambulances instead of building the capacity of health workers and infrastructure.
This has piled more pressure on the main referral hospitals in the country’.
Salah said the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic provided a platform for county governments to improve the status of health facilities in the county governments.
The legislator spoke after enrolling 2,000 households into the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Vulnerable residents
The MP handed over a cheque for Sh12 million to the NHIF Mandera branch to provide health coverage for vulnerable residents.
He said it would ease the burden on many families of paying for medical services.
“We all know that a number of families undergo a lot of challenges and are unable to meet the cost of health services especially when they are suffering from diseases that require a lot of finances. For this reason, I urge residents to register in the NHIF scheme,” he said.
Work hard
Many poor residents who can’t afford medical care resort to traditional herbal treatments that in most occasions end up worsening their conditions.
Salah promised to ensure that all residents have access to quality healthcare without having to pay a lot of money.
“Healthcare is very vital and it is the only service that will even make us recover our economy. A healthy person will always have that desire to work hard,” he said
Led by President Kenyatta, the government has been on the forefront urging Kenyans to register with NHIF.
