Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has inspected the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) as preparations intensify for the inaugural Kenya Health Summit.
The two day summit is set for August 18 and 19 and will bring together more than 5,000 delegates to review the country’s health sector reforms.
The summit will focus on healthcare financing, primary healthcare, specialised care, medicines and other health commodities, digital health, the health workforce and maternal and newborn health.
It will be held under the theme, “Reforms Delivered, Health as a Right.”
Duale has said the meeting will give the government an opportunity to showcase what it has achieved while also confronting challenges affecting patients and healthcare workers.
“Between the August 18 and 19, we will showcase physically and electronically the achievements of this administration the last four years within the healthcare system,” Duale said.
The CS has also challenged the media and other stakeholders to look beyond government statistics and examine whether the reforms are making a difference on the ground.
“I therefore called on the media to go beyond reporting numbers, interrogate the reforms, engage technical teams, visit health facilities and speak to healthcare workers and patients,” Duale said.
One of the key areas expected to attract attention is the Social Health Authority (SHA), which replaced the National Health Insurance Fund as the government’s main health insurance system.
Duale said more than 32 million Kenyans have been registered under SHA, with nearly 7.9 million claims processed and more than Sh164 billion paid out.
The government is also expected to highlight progress in primary healthcare as it seeks to reduce pressure on major referral hospitals and make treatment available closer to communities.
However, the summit comes at a time when the health sector continues to face questions over financing, access to medicines, healthcare workers and the effectiveness of the new health insurance system.
Duale said the summit will not only showcase government achievements but will also identify gaps and agree on the next priorities for the sector.
He said the government wants patients, healthcare workers, professional associations, private and faith based hospitals, development partners and other stakeholders to take part in the discussions.
The meeting is also expected to produce a roadmap for the remaining years of the current administration and consider the place of healthcare in Kenya’s proposed Vision 2060 framework.
With the summit now only a day away, the inspection of KICC marks the final preparations for a meeting expected to test whether Kenya’s health reforms are delivering the results promised to citizens.