Home » Development Partners in Health Kenya Meeting
The Development Partners in Health Kenya (DPHK) held its monthly meeting on 19 August 2010. The German Development Cooperation (GDC), through GTZ Health Sector Programme, participated in the meeting as a member of the development partners group and in its capacity as one of the deputy-chairs of the DPHK.
The focus of the meeting was the health systems assessment that is being finalised at the moment. The assessment is being undertaken by the ministries of health in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The preliminary findings on the health system weaknesses are similar to those of previous assessments and those of the studies under the umbrella of the health policy framework development. It could therefore be concluded that health systems weaknesses are several, that they are known and that policies have previously been tried to address them but with limited success. Implementation of policies and strategies to address health systems weaknesses were said to be key for their proper functioning. Suggestions have also been made to better coordinate the health systems work and to perhaps develop a systems strategy/strategic plan for coordination of efforts.
The review of the health policy framework and the work streams being undertaken currently were also discussed in the meeting. It was proposed that a wide range of stakeholders, including the civil society, be consulted in implementation of the findings of the review.
The GDC/GTZ health programme budget analysis was also presented and discussed. Concern was raised over the decreasing share of health sector budget. It was felt that efforts should be made to capture Constituency Development Funds for health as a way of addressing this. It was agreed that partners would develop the document further (looking at sub-sector allocation in accordance with priorities etc) and disseminate the results through the Health Financing Inter-agency Coordinating Committee.
The next DPHK meeting will be held on the 16 September. However , an extraordinary DPHK meeting that focuses only on election of new DPHK officials for the coming year will be held on the 2nd September.
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