Browsing: National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF)

• Businesses in Kenya are facing the impact of tightened monetary policy that is resulting in high lending rates.
• The government is under increasing pressure from investors to settle huge pending bills.
• At the same time, the Kenya Shilling is steadily losing ground against major world currencies, piling pressure on external debt obligations.

In the second half of the year, business optimism for companies and sectoral growth prospects in Kenya appears to be subdued, largely influenced by the dual challenges of high taxes and a weakening Shilling.

The government’s task of balancing rising debt levels with tax revenue generation is taking center stage in a scenario complicated by other economic factors.

A confluence of high-interest rates within the banking sector, a politically sensitive environment, the accumulation of pending bills that impact private sector cash flow, and the depreciation of the Kenyan Shilling is painting a complex business environment.

The Shilling has …

Currently, Dr Onyino says that the Kenya Medical Association is a member of the NHIF Board where we have contributed to the reform agenda aimed at optimizing the organization in readiness to implement UHC.

The current proposed National Hospital Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which leaves the KMA unrepresented on the Board of NHIF, will silence the voices of professional doctors in shaping UHC, which must strike a balance between financial sustainability and providing proper medical services to Kenyans, consistent with the oath we have sworn.…

In Kenya, more than 12,000 people have end-stage kidney disease requiring dialysis. Currently, more than 5,000 patients are on dialysis in Kenya. This is according to data provided by the ministry of health.

There are currently  214 dialysis units countrywide in our public (54), private (143) as well as faith-based (17) health facilities.

According to the Chief Administrative Secretary Ministry of Health Dro Mercy Mwangangi, what is astonishing is there are only 41 nephrologists and 560 nurses in the country to deal with all these patients.

All is not doom

Dr Mwangangi says that there have been success stories that have given life to our kidney patients. According to The ministry of health statistics, 661 kidney transplants have been carried out in the country since 2006. Thanks to you my fellow doctors in the room some of whom if not all have been responsible for this great success.

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Kenya’s Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has approved the use of a prescription drug manufactured by Janssen, one of the pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson, for the treatment of prostate cancer.

The local pharmaceuticals regulator has approved the use of Janssen’s once-daily medication ZYTIGA® (abiraterone acetate) for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer ahead of a chemotherapy regime.

The approval is expected to help boost ongoing efforts to minimise existing barriers to cancer care access in Kenya.

READ ALSO:Kenya: Prostate cancer patients to get cheaper drugs

The prescription only innovator (non generic) oncological management drug is distributed locally by Janssen Kenya as part of the global pharmaceutical firm’s commitment to enhance access of essential drugs.

Speaking, when he confirmed the recent approval, Janssen Kenya Country Manager Marseille Onyango said prior to the approval, ZYTIGA had only been licensed for treatment of advanced prostate cancer cases post chemotherapy.…

Nine out of ten (87 per cent) of Kenyans are dissatisfied with the country’s direction on economic management, a survey has revealed, casting doubt on governments’ commitment to deliver on its promises.

The proportion of citizens who express dissatisfaction, according to a report released in Nairobi this week, has been increasing since 2016 when five out of ten citizens (53%) were unhappy.

Citizens are equally dissatisfied with the country’s direction on job creation (82 per cent) which again is higher compared to the past years, since 2016, when half of citizens (51%) were unhappy.

This is despite the Economic Survey 2019 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS)-released in April-indicating the economy grew by 6.3 per cent in 2018 compared to 4.9 per cent in 2017, creating 840,600 new jobs.

READ:How Kenya managed to grow its economy by 6.3%

Corruption is one of the major concerns by majority …