Kisumu — The country stands to benefit immensely from the rollout of primary healthcare services since it is linked to better health outcomes.
The acting Director General for Health Patrick Amoth said there will be a tremendous reduction in all-cause mortality in the country.
Amoth noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, countries that focused on primary healthcare contained the outbreak with ease.
"Countries that had strong and resilient primary healthcare services tended to perform better than those that relied essentially on curative services," he said.
He said the government is committed to focus on primary health services to be able to deliver Universal Health Coverage (UHC) across the country.
Already, President William Ruto has launched the ambitious UHC programme that seeks to ensure affordable health care for all.
Speaking to the press in Kisumu when he graced the 25th clinical officers' annual scientific conference, Amoth said the flagging off of community health promoters is an indication of commitment by the government to roll out UHC.
"The army of 100,000 plus people securely takes healthcare to the household level so that health starts with you as an individual and with you in your household," he said.
He said the health promoters will now be able to deal with close to 40-50 percent of disease burden through promotive and preventive approaches.
Amoth singled out counties like Kisumu, Migori and Garissa which have implemented primary healthcare approaches as a testimony that it can work.
He said the theme of the scientific conference 'Strengthening Primary Healthcare for Sustainable Development', is in line with the government's theme of providing a universal healthcare approach.
"Your theme is in line with our long term vision, the vision 203 and also the bottom up economic transformation agenda, which promises to improve the welfare of Kenyan people," he said.
He remarked that countries that have made progress and achieved UHC, have invested heavily in primary healthcare services noting that Kenya will soon join the league of such countries.
