World Health Organisation (WHO) has pledged to partner with Kenya to provide affordable healthcare for all.
WHO Director General Tedrod Ghebreyesus who was speaking after meeting Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu at Afya House, said the organisation will work closely with Kenya to realise universal healthcare.
Provision of affordable healthcare services is one of the four key areas that President Uhuru Kenyatta has pledged to focus on in his second term.
Other areas that the Head of State has promised to direct his energy to during his final term include food security, affordable housing and employment.
“Recently President Kenyatta announced four pillars; security, health, employment and housing. As WHO we will partner with Kenya to ensure that one of the pillars on provision of affordable healthcare becomes a reality,” said the WHO boss.
He said Kenya the organisation will also partner with Kenya to address other pillars that impact directly on health.
“Inadequate housing, unemployment and food security have a direct impact on health. Therefore, we will partner with Kenya and other countries in the region to tackle those issues,” he said.
Dr Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian national, was elected to serve a five- year-term by member states during the Seventieth World Health Assembly in May 2017.
Dr Mailu said the WHO boss was in the country for a fact finding mission.
“We discussed various issues such as strengthening healthcare systems, challenges facing healthcare provision in a devolved system and how to overcome them and how we can achieve universal healthcare by 2030 as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals” said the CS.
Dr Ghebreyesus also met with President Kenyatta at State House and later proceeded to United Nations Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi before visiting Kiambu Level Five Hospital. -Daily Nation
