NAIROBI, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health will forge strategic partnership with the private sector to expand access to affordable and quality healthcare services to the general population, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said a robust engagement with private sector will hasten the attainment of the Big Four agenda on universal health coverage by 2022.

"Kenya's health sector has defied conventional thinking to engage businesses and promote investments in the infrastructure, commodities and training of personnel required to revolutionize management of the ever-rising disease burden," Kariuki remarked.

She spoke in Nairobi during a round table on President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four Agenda on Universal Healthcare Coverage organized by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI).

The round table that brought together senior policymakers, industry executives and community based advocates sought to explore areas where government and the private sector can have a convergence in a bid to ensure universal health care goal is realized in Kenya.

She added that the government is keen to harness resources from the private sector to promote biomedical research and training of high-end health professionals who are in short supply like oncologists and radiologists.

Kiprono Kittony, the chairman of KNCCI, said targeted investments by the private sector in areas like physical infrastructure, manufacture and supply of low cost commodities as well as training of community health workers will enhance the government's efforts to respond to a rising disease burden.