New Policy Analysis Charts a Path for Children’s Palliative Care in Kenya
In a significant step towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the WAna WAtunzwe (WAWA) initiative released its Children’s Palliative Care (CPC) Policy Gap Analysis Report. Developed in close strategic partnership with the Kenyan Ministry of Health, this report provides a critical evidence base to align national frameworks with the reality of caring for children with life-limiting conditions. This is a relevant example for regions and countries worldwide to identify avenues to address systemic change in children’s palliative care.
A Collaborative Effort for Systemic Change
WAWA, meaning "Let the Children Be Cared For," is a multi-year initiative designed not only to provide care but also to build the systems that sustain it. Supported by Foundation S – The Sanofi Collective and partly by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Inc., the project is led by the Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA), with support from the Ministry of Health and local expert teams from Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. Supporting advisory coalition of global organisations includes St Jude’s Global Palliative Care, Global HOPE, the International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) and Global Treehouse.
This analysis represents a deepening of collaboration with Kenya's national leadership. By auditing existing laws against international best practices, KEHPCA, and its partners, including the Ministry of Health, are co-creating a roadmap to ensure no child is invisible within the healthcare system.
Identifying the Gaps to Close Them
The analysis reveals that while Kenya has robust general health policies, such as the Kenya Health Policy 2014-2030 and the constitutional right to health, specific legal provisions for paediatric palliative care are scarce. Currently, the Cancer Prevention and Control Act is the primary legislation explicitly mentioning palliative care, which inadvertently leaves children with other conditions—such as sickle cell disease, cardiac conditions or congenital anomalies—without a clear legislative safety net. Despite constitutional guarantees of the right to health, Kenya currently lacks a comprehensive, child-specific legislative and implementation framework for children’s palliative care.
Children requiring palliative care include those living with cancer, HIV, congenital anomalies, neurological conditions, genetic disorders, and other life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses.
To support the Ministry’s goal of holistic care, the report highlights four priority areas for systemic strengthening:
Make Children Visible in National Data Systems: The current Kenya Health Information System (KHIS) does not track children’s palliative care as a distinct category and instead places them under the HIV or Cancer categories. This current data collection practice makes it difficult for policymakers to allocate resources effectively based on actual need.
Protect and Retain Specialized Workforce Skills: There is a critical need to recognise and retain specialised skills. The analysis notes that, due to staff shortages, trained personnel are often redeployed to unrelated departments, creating a need for clear career pathways to keep expertise where it is most needed.
Guarantee Financial Protection Through SHIF: The transition to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) presents a vital opportunity to expand benefit packages. The report advocates for insurance coverage of outpatient and home-based palliative care to ensure families are not impoverished by the lack of essential support while caring for their child with a serious illness.
Remove Regulatory Barriers to Essential Medicines: While morphine is generally available, regulations restricting prescription authority to doctors create a lack of access at the community level. Empowering trained and certified nurses to prescribe narcotic pain medication and manage severe suffering through appropriate medication would dramatically improve access for families and patients in county-level facilities.
“ This analysis brings clarity on where action is needed now, highlighting the policy, data and workforce decisions that must shift for Kenya to build a health system to guarantee dignity and compassionate care for every child, no matter their diagnosis.”
A Roadmap Forward
This document is more than a report; it is a tool for action. It offers the Ministry of Health and county governments specific, actionable recommendations—from updating the essential medicines list to include paediatric formulations to integrating palliative care indicators into national health data systems. The analysis also calls for clearer national–county coordination and monitoring mechanisms to ensure existing policy commitments are translated into consistent practice. This policy gap analysis is a model for other regions and countries: a deep examination of the system's strengths and needs can identify actionable steps to drive improvement.
“This analysis does more than identify gaps - it charts a path from invisibility to dignity. For the individual child, closing these gaps means the difference between suffering in isolation and accessing the pain relief and holistic support they deserve. For us as a society, it is the ultimate test of our healthcare system: ensuring that our promise of Universal Health Coverage truly protects the most vulnerable among us, not just in principle, but in practice.”
By identifying these structural barriers, WAWA and its partners are laying the groundwork for a future in which high-quality palliative care is not a privilege but a standard component of national healthcare for every Kenyan child with a serious illness.