Kenya Ministry of Health, preventive and primary health care resource gap study

In addition, the study provides a means of monitoring shifts to close the P/PHC resource gaps in the MOH recurrent budget. A computer program developed by the study will enable the MOH to monitor the financial resources allocated to P/PHC in the recurrent budget and to determine the levels of funding directed toward P/PHC in the Forward Estimates. It will be difficult to determine from MOH budgets exactly how resources are being allocated, since actual expenditures within budget items cannot be tracked. It is unlikely that the proportions used to determine resource allocation in the monitoring program will remain constant as the needs of facilities change. Consequently, the study proposes that the resource utilization survey be repeated on a smaller scale every two years or so. This will allow actual measurement of resource allocations at the facility level. Since the survey has already been developed, it can be implemented by Kenyan consultants and the MOH at minimal cost. The results of this survey are used in a planning program using a computer spreadsheet. This program contains information about unit costs for full capacity, current expenditures, and numbers of facilities. It can be used to forecast the cost of expanding MOH facilities and estimate the resulting gap in funding. This survey is a rich source of data which provides a good baseline description of primary health care facilities in Kenya. It will be valuable for addressing other questions of facility operation for the MOH and the donor community. Several other uses for the data are suggested. This report is organized almost in chronological order, with a description of the methodology and sampling in the chapters following the introduction. Sections 4 and 5 give detailed explanations of the analysis that was performed. Sections 6-8 provide a discussion of the results of the study in the findings, monitoring and planning, and conclusions. The reader who is more interested in the results than the process may go directly to these sections. More technical material as well as copies of all the survey instruments are included in the appendices. (Author abstract)