Household access to non-communicable disease medicines during universal health care roll-out in Kenya: A time series analysis

Abstract

This study aims to describe trends and estimate impact of county-level universal health coverage expansion in Kenya on household availability of non-communicable disease medicines, medicine obtainment at public hospitals and proportion of medicines obtained free of charge. Data from phone surveillance of households in eight Kenyan counties between December 2016 and September 2019 were used. Three primary outcomes related to access were assessed based on patient report: availability of non-communicable disease medicines at the household; non-communicable disease medicine obtainment at a public hospital versus a different outlet; and non-communicable disease medicine obtainment free of cost versus at a non-zero price. Mixed models adjusting for fixed and random effects were used to estimate associations between outcomes of interest and UHC exposure.