Financing Kenyan health centres and dispensaries

Exploring the implementation and effects of Direct Facility Funding

The research evaluates the direct facility funding (DFF) pilot scheme in the Kenyan Coast Province. It aims to explore the implementation and perceived impact of DFF at health centres and dispensaries. The focus is on these types of facilities because they are most used by poor rural households, and direct funding mechanisms have not been used before at this level.

The authors are based at the Kenya Medical Research Institute - Wellcome Trust Programme, part of the Consortium for Research on Equitable Health Systems (CREHS) and funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) UK. This policy brief is based on a research report "The Implementation and Effects of Direct Facility Funding in Kenya's Health Centres and Dispensaries". The report is available on the CREHS website, www.crehs.lshtm.ac.uk.

Released in May 2009.