CS Duale says 26 million Kenyans enrolled on SHA

According to Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Duale, this has been realized due to the progress of SHA reforms since the rollout of TAIFA Care on October 1, 2024.

Speaking at Ol-kalou town in Nyandarua County during the launch of the Taifa Care initiative for Nyandarua, the CS called on County administrations to keep this momentum alive so that no Kenyan is left behind.

He underscored the need for Kenyans to register as SHA members, saying it will aid them in accessing quality healthcare.

Duale also revealed that plans were underway to upgrade JM Kariuki Memorial Hospital from a Level-4 to a Leve-5 health facility to allow patients from Nyandarua to receive specialized treatment, other than seeking such services in neighbouring Counties and other regions.

Upgrading of the JM Kariuki Hospital will also see other Sub-County Health Centres upgraded.

At the same time, the CS called on Kenyans to delink health services from politics to enable it to work and serve the purpose it is intended.

He noted that the Kenyan Kwanza administration is committed to fixing health care delivery and wants Kenyans to shun leaders who politicize health services.

Duale called on Kenyans to be patient with ongoing reforms.

The Social Health Authority (SHA) Chief Executive Officer Mercy Mwangangi has revealed that the contributory fund has collected Ksh.70 billion since its inception, drawing comparisons with the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), which only collected Ksh.45 billion in its lifespan.

Speaking to Citizen TV, Mwangangi also noted that out of the 26 million registered citizens, 890,000 are from the informal sector and 4 million salaried contributors, bringing the total number of active payers to 4.8 million.