NAIROBI, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will launch the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) pilot program on Dec. 1 and the program is expected to benefit over 3 million people, the presidency said on Tuesday.

The UHC pilot will be rolled out in the four counties of Isiolo, Kisumu, Nyeri and Machakos before it is finally scaled up to cover the rest of the country, State House said in a statement issued after a committee co-chaired by Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki and Isiolo Governor Mohammed Kuti briefed the president on their preparations ahead of the pilot program launch.

"The new UHC package will benefit at least 3.2 million Kenyans in the four pilot counties and is expected to contain a new bouquet of services accessible to Kenyans in public health facilities," it said.

Kenyatta who met with the UHC Inter-Governmental Committee in Nairobi encouraged the governors to actively participate in an intensive sensitization exercise in the month of November before the pilot project is launched.

He said the success of the pilot program in the four counties will give clearance for full-scale roll-out of UHC.

Health experts have hailed the program saying that it will contribute towards achievement of UHC and will enhance the country's capacity for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks, disease outbreaks and other public health events of international concern.

According to the government, the decision to pilot the program in the four counties was evidence-based considering their disease burdens.

Kisumu in Western Kenya was identified because it leads in the infectious diseases category especially for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis while Machakos in eastern region records the highest numbers of injuries mostly from accidents occurring along the busy Mombasa-Nairobi highway and the many winding roads in the county.

According the Health Ministry, Nyeri is part of the pilot because it leads in the non-communicable diseases segment especially diabetes while in Isiolo, the government will seek to establish how the package is well suited for nomadic and migratory populations.