Examining informal payments (petty corruption) for healthcare in Kenya: implications on equitable access

Unofficial fees and bribes are a less obvious but important form of payment for healthcare services. Bribes include any payment to healthcare providers above the official charges. They are illegal especially in public health facilities where healthcare is supposed to be free. These unofficial fees can prevent people from seeking the healthcare services they need.

I will find out what influences people to pay bribes to access to healthcare services and how gender and place of residence interact to influence poor patients to pay bribes. The study will involve 16 health facilities in two counties in Kenya. I will talk to patients, healthcare workers, poor people and health financing policy makers. 

This study will inform how bribes for healthcare services can be addressed and people can be protected from financial burden when they need healthcare.

This grant was awarded under the scheme’s previous name of Master’s Fellowship in Public Health and Tropical Medicine.