Cabinet Secretary for Health Aden Duale appeared before the Health Committee of the National Assembly on Thursday to lay the Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety Bill (No. 41 of 2025) before the committee. The meeting, led by Seme MP Dr. James Nyikal, was conducted at Bunge Towers in Nairobi.
During the session, Duale touched on the earlier committee report in October, which had pointed out challenges the Social Health Authority (SHA) had encountered since its inception.
The 18 priority issues and 14 recommendations were scrutinized by the legislators for the purpose of helping to improve management, accountability, as well as service delivery in Kenya’s health sector.
Duale described that the Ministry has performed well in most areas but that most Kenyans, especially mothers, still find it difficult to access quality health.
He mentioned the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response system and fresh digital health technologies as the top benchmarks for tracking health data and improving hospital readiness.
He also informed that KEMSA had achieved a 67% order fill rate against 32%, and delivery time to ship drugs to the counties had also decreased from 33 to 12 days.
Duale also explained that the objective is to achieve 100% supply coverage so that there is timely delivery of drugs and other supplies to all the health facilities.
The CS further inaugurated the roll-out of the SHA Ambulance Evacuation Service and the creation of a National Ambulance Dispatch Centre (NADC). These, he explained, would see that there is an equitable, speedy, and cashless emergency response system for all Kenyans.
Duale appealed to the MPs to favor continued health reforms by asking for extra funding to fully operationalize the Primary Healthcare Fund and the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund. He further asked for clearing of the NHIF arrears to facilitate health sector stability.
“Rebuilding Kenya’s health system is something that must be done together,” Duale told the committee. “No single institution can do it alone partnership and shared responsibility are at the heart of universal health coverage.”
The CS was accompanied by Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni, Director-General for Health Dr. Patrick Amoth, and CEOs Dr. Mercy Mwangangi (SHA), Eng. Anthony Lenayara (DHA), and Dr. David Kariuki (KMPDC).
