Kenya’s inflation rate climbed to 7.3 per cent in October, the highest level since 2023. Predictably, the conversation has centred on the economy, purchasing power and the rising cost of living. But what happens to the health of a nation when the cost of staying alive becomes increasingly unaffordable?
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, food prices increased by 10.2 per cent and transport costs by 17.1 per cent over the past year. They are indicators of mounting pressure on the conditions that determine whether Kenyans remain healthy. Health begins with nutritious food, decent housing, clean water, sanitation, education, financial security and access to essential services. Inflation erodes these foundations, making illness more likely and healthcare more difficult to afford.
Economy-wide, inflation increases the costs of operating hospitals, purchasing medicines, maintaining equipment, paying workers and transporting medical supplies. Exchange rates, procurement practices, taxation, regulation and health financing decisions also determine what patients ultimately pay.
Consider a hospital whose electricity, fuel, medical supplies and maintenance costs are increasing. If its reimbursement rates remain unchanged, its purchasing power declines. The hospital must either absorb these costs, reduce expenditure, delay investments or transfer some of the financial burden to patients. For public hospitals operating under constrained budgets, these pressures can translate into medicine shortages, longer waiting times, deteriorating infrastructure and compromised quality of care.
Healthcare is also labour-intensive. Nurses, doctors and other health professionals are themselves affected by inflation. If wages fail to keep pace with living costs, health workers experience declining real incomes, intensifying dissatisfaction, industrial disputes and workforce retention challenges.
The greatest consequences of inflation occur outside hospitals. Consider a mother earning Sh20,000 monthly. As food, transport, rent and electricity costs rise, her income remains unchanged. What does she sacrifice? Does she reduce the family’s consumption of nutritious food? Postpone a clinic appointment? Skip her hypertension medication? Delay seeking treatment until an illness becomes an emergency?
Food inflation can compromise dietary diversity and nutritional adequacy, particularly among children, pregnant women and low-income households. Rising transport costs can discourage antenatal visits, routine immunisation, chronic disease follow-up and timely emergency care. Housing insecurity and unaffordable energy can increase exposure to unhealthy living environments. Financial uncertainty contributes to psychological distress, while reduced access to education and economic opportunities can perpetuate poor health across generations.
The World Health Organization’s 2025 Kenya report indicates that out-of-pocket payments account for approximately 24.2 per cent of total health expenditure. This remains a substantial burden in a country pursuing universal health coverage. Households must finance treatment directly while simultaneously absorbing rising living costs, making healthcare expenditure catastrophic.
This raises serious questions about the government’s much-publicised healthcare financing reforms. What financial protection is the Social Health Authority providing to households facing rising healthcare and living costs? Are reimbursement rates sufficient to sustain hospitals without transferring additional costs to patients? Are essential medicines consistently available? What proportion of patients are still paying out of pocket for services ostensibly covered under public financing arrangements? An increase in nominal health allocations means little if inflation consumes the additional resources before an extra patient receives care.
Kenya needs a deliberate inflation-sensitive health financing strategy. This should include regular assessment of healthcare input costs, targeted reimbursement adjustments for vulnerable facilities, protection of essential medicines and investment in health workers and infrastructure. The government must also strengthen medicine procurement, pricing transparency and supply chain efficiency to prevent unnecessary cost escalation.
Essential primary healthcare, maternal services and chronic disease treatment should remain affordable, with particular safeguards for low-income families and patients requiring continuous care. Healthcare providers can explore flexible, interest-free payment arrangements where appropriate, but financing treatment through instalments must never become a substitute for adequate public financing or expose vulnerable patients to additional debt.
Finally, inflation policy must recognise that protecting health requires protecting household purchasing power. Affordable nutritious food, accessible transport, adequate housing and reliable water and sanitation are health interventions as surely as medicines and hospital beds.
At 7.3 per cent inflation, the question to the government is: What is your plan to prevent the cost-of-living crisis from becoming a public health crisis?
