
LAWS OF KENYA
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE ACT
NO. 13 OF 2023
- Published in Kenya Gazette Vol. CXXV—No. 249 on 24 November 2023
- Assented to on 19 October 2023
- Commenced on 2 November 2023
Part I – PRELIMINARY
1. Short Title
This Act may be cited as the Primary Health Care Act, 2023.2. Interpretation
In this Act—"Cabinet Secretary" means the Cabinet Secretary responsible for matters relating to health;"care coordination" means a proactive approach that brings professionals and providers together to address the needs of service users to ensure they receive integrated and person-centered care across various settings;"county executive committee member" means the county executive committee member responsible for matters relating to health;"community" means a specific group of people, usually living in a defined geographical area, who share common values and norms, and are arranged in a social structure according to relationships which the community has collectively developed over a period of time;"community health committee" means the functional structure overseeing the operations of a community health unit;"community health officer" means a trained health professional who is assigned to supervise the community health promoters under their community health unit;"community health care services" means the services specified under section 5;"community health promoter" means a member of the community who is selected and appointed in accordance with section 9 of this Act or a community health volunteer or a community health worker who is deemed to be a community health promoter under section 22(3) of this Act and is trained to provide community health services to defined households;"community health unit" means a group of households not exceeding one thousand within a defined geographical area and formally recognized as level one in the health system for community health service delivery;"health care professional" has the same meaning assigned to it under section 2 of the Health Act (No. 21 of 2017);"health care provider" has the meaning assigned to it under section 2 of the Health Act (No. 21 of 2017);"health facility" has the same meaning assigned to it under section 2 of the Health Act (No. 21 of 2017);"hospital" includes health facilities at levels four, five and six respectively;"household" means a social unit which shares the same socio-economic needs associated with consumption and production;"primary health care" means essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology that is made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community at every stage of their development, through their full participation and at an affordable cost to the community and country, in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination;"primary health care workforce" includes health care providers and community health promoter;"Primary Health Care Network" means an administrative health region comprising of a hub and spokes established to deliver access to primary health care services for patients, as well as to coordinate with other hospitals in order to improve the overall operational efficiency of the network;"hub" means a primary health care referral facility which should be a level four facility;"spokes" means level three and two health facilities and the community health units;"multi-disciplinary team" means a team of health care professionals with diverse expertise and skills who jointly assess, plan and manage health care that matches patients’ needs and those of the catchment population to improve health outcomes;"Universal Health Coverage" means that all individuals and communities receive the health services they need including the full spectrum of essential, quality health services from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care without suffering financial hardship; and"vulnerable groups" means vulnerable groups as defined under Article 21 of the Constitution.3. Objects
The objects of this Act is to—Part II – PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SERVICES
4. Primary health care services
5. Community health care services
6. Facility health care services
7. Delivery of primary health services
Each county government shall facilitate the service delivery of primary health care by—Part III – PRIMARY HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE
8. Primary health care workforce
9. Recruitment of community health promoters
10. Public participation in the selection of community health promoters
11. Functions of community health promoters
12. Register of community health promoters
13. Retention of community health promoters
Each county government shall ensure that community health promoters are adequately supported to perform their functions, including through—Part IV – ROLE OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE POLICY
14. Role of the ministry responsible for health.
15. Financing of primary health care functions
Part V – MANAGEMENT OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SERVICES
16. Role of county governments
Each county government shall, in the management of primary health care services—17. County primary health care advisory committee
18. Primary health care networks
19. Primary health care network committee
20. Community Health Units
21. Community Health Committee
Part VI – MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
22. Transitional provisions
23. Offences and penalties
24. Adherence to data protection
Every person shall, in the implementation of this Act, adhere to the provisions of the Data Protection Act (No. 24 of 2019), in the collection, processing and transmission of personal data.25. Regulations
The Cabinet Secretary shall, in consultation with county governments, make regulations generally for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Act.History of this document
24 November 2023 this version
02 November 2023
Commenced
19 October 2023
Assented to
Cited documents 3
Act 3
1. | County Governments Act | 1472 citations |
2. | Data Protection Act | 99 citations |
3. | Health Act | 73 citations |