UHC: Is Kenya making any progress? /FILEIn the great theatre of health systems, two protagonists dominate the stage, Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor, with his payroll-funded precision, and William Beveridge, the British architect, with his egalitarian tax ledger.Both offered visions of protection from the cruelty of illness, promising solidarity, security, and the comfort of knowing that health care would not bankrupt households. Yet only one of these models seems at home in the bustling, informally employed economies of today’s low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where labour markets operate more like jazz improvisation than the regimented orchestras of 19th-century Europe.The…
Author: by DR COSMAS MUGAMBI
ARV medications in Kenya are mainly bought through donor funds.Having navigated the precarious intersections of donor dependency, fragile healthcare systems, and the unrelenting burden of disease in LMICs, we should view healthcare financing not merely as a matter of numbers but as a litmus test of political will, strategic foresight, and institutional courage. The arc of innovation in healthcare financing in LMICs is neither sudden nor smooth; it has been nudged forward by necessity, refined by trial, and often hobbled by inertia.When donor aid began to plateau around 2010 and decline by 2015, it was not a surprise; it was…