1 July 2009
Nairobi — The Rockefeller Foundation has announced a multi-billion-shilling drive to improve healthcare in Kenya and other African countries.
The "Transforming Health Systems" initiative seeks to expand healthcare coverage, said the foundation's president, Ms Judith Rodin.
Ms Rodin said at a press conference in Nairobi on Wednesday: "As we implement this initiative, my foundation will assist Kenya and other low-income countries to remove barriers to effective and efficient health systems, thus opening new avenues to revolutionary treatments and cures, especially for poor people."
According to a recent report, in Kenya and other developing countries medical treatment is unaffordable for most people.
At the same time, the World Health Organisation estimates that as a result of inadequate health systems, 125 million people spend nearly half their annual income on healthcare.
Catastrophic health expenditures send 25 million families back into poverty every year, it adds.
"The Rockefeller Foundation has long been committed to public health interventions in Kenya and other developing countries to break bottlenecks that prevent access to quality health services," Ms Rodin said.
Medication
She added: "Although it's imperative that we continue developing and delivering new vaccines and medicines, many people still cannot access a clinic, pay out-of-pocket costs for medication and treatment and fall into poverty as a result."
According to experts, in sub-Saharan Africa, under-five mortality rates have decreased by only 15 per cent since 1990, despite increased health spending.
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