NHIF building in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Data from State-backed NHIF cancer cover
gives a good reason to believe that with right policies and funding
Kenya can heal its health sector.
In the half year
since the Fund introduced covers for cancer, minor and major surgeries,
claims by cancer patients have shot up from 33 to 7,451, highlighting
the fact that more patients are now accessing the life-saving treatment.
That means patients don’t have to fundraise the
Sh600,000 that is needed for a single session of chemotherapy,
translating to savings at home too.
Data on minor and
major surgeries, which force thousands of Kenyans to flock to countries
such as India for treatment, is not immediately available, but we’d
like to believe that it also paints an encouraging picture.
And
this brings us to the point. Isn’t it about time we established a
universal health cover to save more Kenyans the burden of meeting the
high medical costs that drive them into poverty?
All
it requires for a universal cover to succeed, just like the cancer cover
indicates, are right policies, funding and political goodwill.
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