Advocates call on Dr. Tedros for inclusive engagement of civil society in universal health coverage discussions in Kenya

civil society
Jan. 15, 2018, 6:50 p.m.
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Kenyan advocates encourage Dr. Tedros to engage with civil society and communities in future country visits.

On 13 January 2018, Kenyan civil society and communities working on health issues sent an open letter to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), expressing their deep concern that during his visit to Kenya on 10 January 2018 to discuss universal health coverage, he “did not schedule any consultations with civil societies, communities and other non-state actors working in the health sector.” They also emphasized that “engaging them during this visit, would have presented an equally great opportunity to deliberate on the upcoming UN High Level Meeting on TB.”

The signatories underlined the importance of civil society and communities involvement in future WHO country visits, and called upon the WHO country offices to play a more proactive role in securing meetings with key stakeholders.

“We highly encourage you to engage with civil society and communities in future country visits, and call upon the WHO country offices to play a more proactive role in securing meetings with key stakeholders. Broader public involvement in health care remains desirable in the achievement of universal health coverage as it will lead to more democratic decision making and, in turn, better accountability. It is important that you adhere to your commitments towards deliberate, purposeful and broader engagement and involvement of civil society and communities in order to overcome the existing shortcomings in the health sector and achieve the set global public health goals.”

To read the full letter, click here.

On 15 January 2018, the letter was hand-delivered to Dr. Tedros by Khairunisa Suleiman.