Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has defended the government’s health scheme after teachers threatened to stage demonstrations over issues with medical services under the new program.
The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Duale, announced this in a statement released on the 5th of March, where he claimed that many teachers are already using the Social Health Authority (SHA) program, despite the teachers’ claims of being denied medical services under the new program.
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and other teachers’ unions have been warning of possible demonstrations in the coming days as many teachers are finding it hard to access medical services under the new program.
The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Duale, stated that the program is working well and many teachers and their families are already accessing medical services under the new program, as many of them are using the Public Officers Medical Scheme Fund under the Social Health Authority (SHA) program.
The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Duale, stated, “To set the record straight and dispel the narrative that teachers are being denied care, the data speaks for itself.”
The Ministry of Health announced that over 249,000 teachers and their families have already accessed medical services under the new program as many of them visited hospitals and accessed medical services since the transition to the Social Health Authority (SHA) program started.
The medical claims for teachers under the new program have already reached over Ksh3.5 billion as many of them accessed medical services in 2,823 health facilities in the country.
According to the data obtained from the ministry, the highest number of claims was recorded in Nairobi County, with over 30,000 hospital visits worth approximately Ksh527.7 million.
Uasin Gishu County had the second highest number of claims, with over 29,000 claims worth approximately Ksh463.2 million.
Other leading counties based on the number of claims include Meru, which has over 34,000 claims, and Bungoma, whose claims exceed 29,000.
Then there is the issue of Kisii, Kisumu, Nakuru, Kiambu, Trans Nzoia, and Kericho counties, where the teachers have also taken advantage of the scheme.
However, KUPPET officials claim that the real issues facing the teachers have only been experienced in the recent past. According to the officials, the SHA system is often prone to frequent outages and slow processing, with the teachers having to pay their own medical expenses.
Speaking during the event, KUPPET Secretary-General Akello Misori noted that the situation has been exacerbated in the recent past following the move by private hospitals under the Rural Private Hospitals Association (RUPHA) to stop offering services to teachers and police officers.
The association claimed that the government owed the hospitals over Ksh30 billion in unpaid medical claims over the last ten months.
Misori also said some hospitals have started withdrawing from the SHA programme, citing delays in approvals and claim processing, which has made it harder for teachers to access treatment.
Despite the complaints, Duale urged teachers to continue using hospitals contracted under SHA, assuring them that the government remains committed to ensuring they receive proper healthcare.
