{"id":130343,"date":"2026-02-09T07:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T07:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/external-funding-withdrawal-exposes-major-financing-risks-in-kenyas-health-sector-report\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T07:02:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T07:02:51","slug":"external-funding-withdrawal-exposes-major-financing-risks-in-kenyas-health-sector-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/external-funding-withdrawal-exposes-major-financing-risks-in-kenyas-health-sector-report\/","title":{"rendered":"External funding withdrawal exposes major financing risks in Kenya\u2019s health sector, report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kenya\u2019s health sector is facing a major financing gap threatening healthcare delivery and outcomes while exposing the country\u2019s deep dependence on external aid following the recent withdrawal of US government funding.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to a new report dubbed Immediate Impact of External Funding Withdrawal on Kenya\u2019s Health Sector<\/a>, external funding for health sector in Kenya has fallen significantly from Ksh 126 billion to Ksh 54 billion in Financial Year\u00a0 2025\/26,<\/p>\n

The report by the Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (CEMA) from the University of Nairobi.<\/p>\n

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the external funding landscape and tracks the funds within the health care system, highlighting the areas that are the most affected.<\/p>\n

Kenya\u2019s health system is financed through the government, the private sector, and external funders. In 2018\/19, external funders contributed 18 percent of total health expenditure, with the US government accounting for over 60 percent of all external funding to the overall health sector.<\/p>\n

The report states that in the Financial Year 2025\/26, reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health (RMNCH) was the most funded program by external sources, receiving Ksh 5.85 billion, up from Ksh 1.04 billion in Financial Year 2024\/25. However, the government contribution was reduced from Ksh 1.04 billion in FY 2024\/25 to Ksh 0.54 billion in FY 2025\/26, suggesting a crowding-out effect of external funding.<\/p>\n

Other key findings included, a decline in external and government funding for HIV, TB, and Malaria, where both external funding from the Global Fund and the government towards the HIV budget declined in the Financial Year 2025\/26.<\/p>\n

The external funding from the Global Fund for TB reduced substantially from Ksh 4 billion in the FY2024\/25 budget to Ksh 1.74 billion in FY 2025\/26, while that of\u00a0 Malaria was reduced to Ksh 1.53 billion down from Ksh 4.25 billion.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the report notes that the commodity funding gap widened to Ksh 34.655 billion in FY 2025\/26.<\/p>\n

According to the report by CEMA, counties would need Ksh 47.8 billion annually to absorb all the 41,170 PEPFAR-supported staff, the majority of whom are deployed in high HIV burden counties.<\/p>\n

It also revealed that health information systems used to collect, analyze, and disseminate health information in Kenya are highly dependent on external funding.<\/p>\n

Vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, children, adolescents, and adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), are likely to be disproportionately affected, widening inequities in access to HIV prevention and treatment services.<\/p>\n

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In addition, the multilateral external funders are also affected by the change in the US government\u2019s foreign aid policy. Global Fund, World Bank, World Health Organisation, and GAVI are recipients of the US government funding. A cut in their global budgets may lead to a reprioritization of their interventions in the country to fit within their resource envelopes.<\/p>\n

While the withdrawal of external funding poses serious risks to health service delivery, the report argues it also presents a critical opportunity for Kenya to reset and build a more self-reliant, resilient health system.<\/p>\n

Dr. David Khaoya, Lead Author and Senior Research Fellow at CEMA, said, \u201cExternal funding has long played a significant role in Kenya\u2019s health sector, but it is unpredictable and unsustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis funding shock is a wake-up call. While the challenges are significant, Kenya and other African countries now have an opportunity to rethink how health systems are financed and build long-term resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreasing domestic investment, strengthening national ownership, and reducing overreliance on external aid are essential if we are to protect health outcomes in the future,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

A long-term impact analysis of this withdrawal is currently underway and will be released in due course.<\/p>\n

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The post External funding withdrawal exposes major financing risks in Kenya\u2019s health sector, report<\/a> appeared first on KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kenya\u2019s health sector is facing a major financing gap threatening healthcare delivery and outcomes while exposing the country\u2019s deep dependence on external aid following the recent withdrawal of US government funding. According to a new report dubbed Immediate Impact of External Funding Withdrawal on Kenya\u2019s Health Sector, external funding for health sector in Kenya has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130343\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}