Introduction

This chapter examines how the Government of Kenya has made substantial process in addressing the various health challenges that the nation has been facing. The chapter covers how communicable diseases such as lower respiratory infection, diarrhea, and vaccine-preventable diseases have been controlled to a positive level. It presents an argument that healthcare policy formulation alone cannot postulate positive health outcomes, increase the socioeconomic status of citizens as well as improve sanitation, water quality, and effective regulations to propel better air quality. An additional mechanism is needed in the country to accomplish the positive health needs of both urban and rural citizens of Kenya. Health policies that advocated the expansion of services for immunization to children and the outcomes are also discussed. Analysis of citizens’ healthcare needs and their desire to have access to healthcare services show that there are major disparities across regions of the nation. The chapter also provides a clear basis for the assessment of the nation's healthcare system. It is anticipated that the policy analyses and recommendations could help guide the adoption of appropriate healthcare policies to prevent the lives of citizens from danger and the spread of noncommunicable and communicable diseases in Kenya in the future.

Brief History of Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It has a boundary with the Indian Ocean to the east, the Republic of Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, and Tanzania to the south. Other countries having boundaries with Kenya are South Sudan to the northwest and Uganda to the west. Lake Victoria is located southwest of the country. According to the World Bank (2022), Kenya has a population of about 44.86 million people. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Kenya was US$132.4 billion in 2022 (World Bank 2022; GlobalEdge 2022).

The East African territory now called the Republic of Kenya was inhabited by Cushitic-speaking people around 2000 AD. The Bantu ethnic extraction who were hunters migrated from West Africa and settled in the region in the first millennium (Askwith 1995). Other groups such as the Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic ethno-linguistic people also migrated to settle in the Kenya region (Askwith 1995; Embassy of the Republic of Kenya Japan 2023; Frontera-Rial & Ogot 1978).