Kenya’s Social Health Authority (SHA) has registered more than 32.3 million people as the government accelerates reforms aimed at expanding access to affordable and equitable healthcare, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has said.
Speaking during a high-level ministerial dialogue on sustainable health financing on the sidelines of the 76th WHO Regional Committee for Africa session in Addis Ababa, Duale said the transition from the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to SHA is creating a more inclusive health financing system.
“More than 32.3 million people are now registered with SHA, while over KSh30 billion has been committed to primary healthcare, supporting more than 20 million outpatient visits for 15 million people.” he said
The reforms have also facilitated more than 1.2 million safe deliveries and 500,000 surgical interventions. Meanwhile, the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund is supporting more than 50,000 cancer patients and nearly 21,000 dialysis patients.
Duale said digitisation is strengthening transparency and efficiency, with 6,424 of Kenya’s 6,727 health facilities, representing more than 95 per cent, now digitised.
He said SHA is fully digital, streamlining registration, pre-authorisation and claims processing.
The CS called for stronger African cooperation, sustainable health financing, responsible technology use and mutually beneficial international partnerships to accelerate progress towards Universal Health Coverage across the continent.
