Assessing the Impact of American Foreign Health Policy on Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Kenya between 2013 and 2020

Abstract:

The success or failure of global health policy depends to a significant extent on how the policy is disaggregated into components for ease of implementation, technical support, funding and building effective partnerships to support in the review of data and progress achieved over time. For the case of sexual and reproductive healthcare services, traditional technical support and funding from the US government has been invaluable over the years but public policy changes in the Global Gag Rule (GGR) point to major disruptions in the capacity and capabilities of foreign NGOs to provide technical support and services to the most disadvantaged young girls and women around the world. How has the GGR affected service provision in Kenya? Has the constitutional provision on the right to sexual and reproductive healthcare services made any difference to the quality of life that young girls and women in general live? The complimentary nature of funding for global sexual and reproductive healthcare services has had deleterious effects on local contexts that are less prepared including straitjacket budgets and policy limitations. The primary finding points to the need to overhaul the stringent and dehumanizing global gag rule which does not add value towards the realization of universal and quality comprehensive healthcare products and services envisaged in both the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals No. 3 and our own constitutional provisions on the right to sexual and reproductive healthcare services. International development is incomplete without taking keen interest in expanding the value of choice and freedom for young girls and women to effectively control their lives including retaining the absolute authority, responsibility and rights over the decisions they make concerning their lives. Using a mixed method approach and evaluation for processing my data, I have found out that local communities need to build effective response mechanisms for providing important sexual and reproductive healthcare services and stop depending on the US government to bankroll these programs.