Close to half of Kenyans do not seek medical care due to lack of resources; report shows

Nearly half of Kenyans do not seek medical care due to lack of resources, a report by Twaweza Kenya shows.

According to the report, half of Kenyans (53%) have access to some form of health or medical insurance, whereas (47%) do not.

One of three Kenyans cited costs of health insurance as a major hurdle, whereas 31 percent of Kenyans said they did not visit a health facility the last time they fell ill or got injured due to financial constraints.

The report further indicated that the most widespread form of health insurance accessed by Kenyans is the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF); which is held by 51% of citizens.

Another 3 percent have access to employer-provided schemes and/or private insurance bought by an individual or group (2%).

These findings follow a research titled Shifting to SHIF: Time for a health check, based on data from Sauti za Wananchi, a high- frequency mobile phone survey that randomly selected 3,603 participants nationwide; between January 23 and February 7, 2024.

“As we shift to SHIF – the Social Health Insurance Fund – it is important to understand how citizens currently experience health services. Finding ways to persuade more people to sign up for health insurance has been a challenge for many governments around the world,” Dr. James Ciera, Twaweza Kenya country lead, said.

Among NHIF members, seven out of ten (71%) like that it provides them with quality affordable health services, and a substantial number (34%) add that it is affordable for most Kenyans.

However, NHIF members complain that not all ailments can be treated under NHIF (49%), that members can only attend specific hospitals (36%) and that they are unable to access services when they were late with payments (35%).
 
A paltry (1%) pointed to corruption in the system. Citizens cited lack of medicine at health facilities as the biggest challenge currently facing the sector at (46%). This is followed by the cost of healthcare, cited by one in four citizens (23%).

Seven out of ten citizens (70%) are currently satisfied with the availability of nurses and doctors in the health facility that they visit most often, up from half (47%) in 2017.

On other aspects of the health facility, citizens’ levels of satisfaction have modestly increased. This includes the time taken to reach the facility (60%, up from 57%) and the time taken before being attended to (50%, up from 46%).

Most citizens (68%) are aware that the government has established community health workers across the country, and one out of four citizens (26%) has already received some form of service from the new health workers.
 
Citizens’ main understanding of the role of community health workers is that they are to deliver health information and services to the local community (55%), or to visit at home those who are unable to attend health facilities (38%). Other functions of the health workers are less well known, including health promotion (23%) and data collection (11%).

Dr. Ciera also pleaded the case for half of Kenyans who do not have access to health insurance.

“This is a major health reform. To ensure an increased appreciation among citizens, especially given the July 2024 launch, the government should share information that prepares citizens for a smooth transition. The government also needs to assure citizens that this transition will not carry with it the ‘bads’ of the NHIF that were mentioned by citizens,” he noted.