Nakuru County has signed an agreement with Thinkwell Kenya Limited, a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-supported organization, to explore ways of financing the provision of health services and improving the performance of public health facilities.

The three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a cost of Kshs 30 million will help the county to develop a better health financing system and identify ways to raise new revenues to improve the provision of Primary Healthcare (PHC) services.

The partnership will focus on evaluating health financing systems in the county and finding ways to improve the existing revenue streams.

Thinkwell Kenya will seek to strengthen Nakuru County health financing, including increasing fiscal space for PHC, evaluating the supply chain management of drugs and medical equipment, assessing payment modalities for PHC services using National Health Insurance Funds (NHIF) in Level 2 and Level 3 Hospitals, rationalizing staff deployment based on workload, and instituting evidence-driven planning and budgeting at all levels.

Speaking after signing the MoU at the County Headquarters, Governor Susan Kihika said the partnership with Thinkwell Kenya would help craft a health system that could cushion county residents from costly health services and maximize available resources to deliver quality and affordable healthcare services.

Dr. Ann Mususva, Thinkwell’s Regional Director for East Africa, explained that the project aimed to create more fiscal space to support healthcare, evaluate and improve how Nakuru participates in NHIF, and rationalize staff to achieve optimum performance. She added that experts would be deployed to carry out evaluations in individual hospitals and come up with recommendations to help the county perform better within the allocations made towards healthcare.

The project, which is part of the strategic purchasing for primary healthcare initiative, will be implemented in ten counties in Kenya with support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative aims to improve how governments purchase primary health care services to ensure optimum health outcomes.

A middle-aged man from Engoshura village in Bahati sub County of Nakuru is nursing genital injuries at Nakuru Level 5 Hospital after messing up with his manhood using a knife.

According to neighbors, the man has been in depression for long.

They added that many times he has threatened to commit suicide.

The incident left locals in shock.

Nakuru Civil Society Reproductive Health Network are up in arms over the Reproductive Health Care Policy 2022-2032.

Led by Reproductive Health Youth Champion Organization (RHCO), the groups argued that the policy did not factor in crucial issues affecting women, and youth of reproductive age.

Martin Lunalo from RHCO said the Policy expected to be launched on 23rd March 2022 is not in order as the communities were not consulted in the drafting of this Policy.

“The development process was not public, and the Policy was not readily accessible online. How can the Policy speak to the needs of all Kenyans when the most vulnerable and marginalised have not been given a chance to participate? We are also concerned that the Policy excludes key sexual and reproductive health issues. The Policy excludes safe abortion even though unsafe abortion is one of the main causes for maternal mortality in Kenya” said Lunalo.

Addressing journalists after holding peaceful demonstrations in Nakuru Town, the lobby noted  the Constitution is very clear that pregnant women can seek a safe abortion under Article 26(4) of the Constitution.

Lunalo called on the Ministry to offer guidance on article 26(4) inorder to address the challenges women who use public health facilities undergo  when seeking safe abortions due to lack of information and services.

“We are also disturbed by the stigmatising language used in the Policy. It stigmatises young survivors of sexual violence by blaming them for refusing to resist forced sex from partners. It stigmatises the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents by emphasising abstinence and delayed sexual debut as their main SRHR needs. What about teen mothers? What about minors who have been defiled? Young people have SRHR needs too!
It is our right as people affected by this Policy to participate in its drafting and its validation.The Ministry of Health must respect its obligation to consult with the public, and ensure the Policy leaves no one behind” he said.

Sentiments echoed by Trizah Wanja who called on the Ministry to stop the launch until the issues raised are addressed.

She also urged the Ministry of Health urgently publicise the Policy, and provide forums for public participation.

On his part, Cosmas Mutua from Nakuru Reproductive Health Network
demanded that the Ministry of Health includes all critical sexual and reproductive health issues in the Policy in line with the right to the highest attainable standard of reproductive health.

While calling on general public to come together and demand for meaningful and adequate public engagement in the development of the reproductive health policy, Mutua called on the Ministry to restart validation of the reproductive health policy to include the voices of grassroot communities.