1. COVID-19 in Kenya: Indices on County Healthcare Capacity and Populations at Risk
- Author:
- Harvey Galper and Reehana Raza
- Publication Date:
- 11-2020
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- On March 13, Kenya reported its first case of COVID-19, and an additional 649 cases were reported in the following two months. As the pandemic spreads, Kenya’s policymakers are facing the first significant challenge to the country’s nascent intergovernmental system and will have to prioritize how to spend the country’s scarce resources amid existing fiscal constraints. Established in 2013, Kenya’s decentralized government structure gives the country’s 47 counties the primary responsibility of delivering health care services to their citizens. But historical and geographical factors have led to substantial variation across counties in both health care capacity and risk of contracting the coronavirus. To make critical decisions to control the pandemic, Kenya’s policymakers will need not only accurate data on the spread of the coronavirus but also county-specific data and analyses on health care capacity and population risk. With such county-level data, the national government can flatten the curve and better allocate the country’s limited resources in line with individual counties' circumstances.
- Topic:
- Health, Population, Pandemic, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Kenya and Africa