NAIROBI – Implementation of the universal health insurance plan is staring at a major crisis after the State Department suffers from a massive SH3.87 billion budget cut after acquiring public health and professional standards, threatening the implementation of major health programs.
A document submitted to the Diet by Health Principal Mary Mutoni Muriuki said that he had requested Sh70 billion for fiscal year 2025/2026, but was allocated only Sh31.3 billion, which is less than half of that requirement.
“This will leave a funding gap of Sh 38.7 billion and significantly undermine the essential public health functions and the provision of key priorities under the bottom-up economic transformation agenda (beta),” PS said.
The shortage directly affects prioritization programs such as medical intern payments, operationalization of new health structures, and equipping community health promoters. It also poses a threat to the functions of key health, research and regulatory bodies.
Internship development
Among the areas that are most affected are medical internships. The ministry needs Sh76.7 billion to deploy 5,449 internships by July 2025, but only Sh4.02 billion has been allocated.
“If this funding is not available, the ministry faces serious risks of internship programs that will affect the transition to the workforce of graduates and undermine the delivery of services in public hospitals,” warned Musoni.
Community Health Promoters have been damaged
The government has allocated Sh3.2 billion to more than 107,000 Community Health Promoters (CHPS) for scholarships, but there are no provisions for administrative support and supervision. The department is demanding Sh150 million to promote monitoring and evaluation, and the program is taking the risk of poor implementation.
“The programme is central to the government’s transition to preventive and promoted healthcare, but the lack of surveillance funding could undermine quality and impact,” PS said.
The newly established Department of State for Public Health and Professional Standards, created through Executive Order 1 of 2023, has not been assigned a single shilling for its own operationalization. The ministry has requested Sh250 million to support the basic management and implementation of the approved staff structure.
“This is the first full budget cycle for the department since its inception. Without operational funds, our ability to coordinate and oversee health programs nationwide will be severely limited,” PS said.
Risk research and vaccine capacity
Vaccine self-sufficiency and willingness to biomedical research have also been hit hard. The Kenya Primate Research Institute (KIPRE) plays a key role in the development of vaccines and anti-Venoms, but has not received funding for its activities.
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The department is seeking Sh500 million to support Kipre’s business.
Additionally, SH675 million is required to upgrade the National Quality Control Laboratory (NQCL) to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) level 3 maturation criteria.
This is important to regulate local pharmaceutical manufacturing and ensure quality medical products.
The department has called on Sh350 million to work with the county to develop national school health and nutrition programs.
The funds will be directed towards the keys of sanitary school lunch preparation, clean water and sanitary infrastructure to improve child health and educational outcomes. However, no allocation has been made.
