By The People Tribune Reporter
President William Ruto has defended the Government’s sweeping health sector reforms, saying the changes implemented over the past three years have significantly expanded access to healthcare and brought the country closer to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The President said the growing number of Kenyans registered under the Social Health Authority (SHA), increased financing for healthcare, expansion of primary healthcare services and investment in medical equipment were evidence that the reforms were beginning to bear fruit.
He said 32.3 million Kenyans have so far registered with SHA, which replaced the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) in October 2024. The figure, he noted, represents a significant increase from the about eight million people who were registered under NHIF.
Ruto also said more than eight million people had received treatment through SHA over the past two years, describing the development as a major step towards fulfilling his administration’s pledge to achieve Universal Health Coverage.
“For the first time since Independence, Kenya has put in place a comprehensive legal, financial, institutional, community and digital architecture for Universal Health Coverage built and sustained by the contributions of Kenyans themselves. We have crossed an historic threshold,” he said.
The President spoke on Tuesday when he officially opened the two-day Kenya Health Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.
The summit brought together key players in the health sector to review the progress made under the ongoing reforms, identify remaining gaps and discuss measures needed to make healthcare more accessible, affordable and sustainable.
The reforms followed the Government’s decision to replace NHIF with SHA as part of a broader restructuring of the health financing system. The new framework is anchored on the Social Health Insurance Act and is intended to shift Kenya from an insurance model largely associated with formal employment towards a system that seeks to cover the wider population, including vulnerable and informal-sector households.
Since October 2024, Ruto said, SHA has received more than Sh209 billion and paid over Sh178 billion to contracted health facilities across the 47 counties.
He said the Government had also strengthened primary healthcare by working with county governments to employ 107,800 Community Health Promoters (CHPs).
The CHPs have so far reached more than nine million households, helping identify illnesses and other health risks at community level while linking families with health facilities for treatment.
“For the first time, we have built a nationwide health network whose first point of contact is not necessarily a hospital bed, but the doorstep of a Kenyan home,” the President said.
The expansion of community-based healthcare is part of the Government’s broader effort to move from a system that mainly responds to illness after it occurs to one that emphasises prevention, early detection and treatment at the primary healthcare level.
Through the Primary Health Care Fund, Ruto said the Government had disbursed Sh23.3 billion to support more than 20 million outpatient visits, benefiting over 15 million Kenyans.
A further Sh17 billion, he said, had been allocated to support maternal healthcare, including deliveries.
The President also said SHA had facilitated more than 500,000 surgeries across the country and provided treatment to more than 50,000 cancer patients.
He contrasted the figure with the approximately 7,000 cancer patients he said had received treatment under NHIF.
The Government has also expanded the number of health facilities contracted by SHA to more than 10,700, according to Ruto, increasing the number of points where members can access services.
The expansion comes amid concerns that one of the major obstacles to Universal Health Coverage in Kenya has been the uneven distribution of healthcare infrastructure and specialised services, particularly in rural and marginalised areas.
Ruto said the National Equipment Services Programme had delivered 850 modern medical equipment units worth Sh9.7 billion to hospitals in 44 counties that had signed agreements for the programme.
The equipment includes digital X-ray machines, dialysis units, MRI machines, CT scanners, ultrasound machines and other critical medical technologies.
He said the investments were intended to reduce the need for patients to travel long distances in search of specialised services.
Digitisation has also been central to the Government’s health reforms, with Ruto saying the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) had improved its medicine-refilling rate to 90 per cent, up from 40 per cent three years ago.
He attributed the improvement partly to digitisation and better tracking of medical commodities, saying it had helped ensure that health facilities were adequately stocked.
The health reforms are among the key components of the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which identifies access to affordable healthcare as one of the priorities for improving the welfare of ordinary Kenyans.
Ruto described the reforms as one of the most consequential social transformations in Kenya’s history, arguing that a healthy population was critical to productivity, economic growth and national development.
“I consider it one of the greatest privileges of my public service to have been entrusted, in our time, with helping turn that national aspiration into reality,” he said.
The President, however, called on Kenyans to protect the gains made in the health sector and ensure that future changes in government do not disrupt long-term health policies and programmes.
He said Universal Health Coverage should transcend political parties and individual administrations.
“Universal healthcare must become part of our national covenant; not an achievement of a government, a party or a President but of the people and of the Republic,” he said.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said the Government had honoured its commitment to improving healthcare and reducing the burden of disease among Kenyans.
Kindiki said a healthier population would be better positioned to participate in economic activities and contribute to national development.
Council of Governors chairman Ahmed Abdullahi, who is also Wajir Governor, praised the implementation of SHA, saying the new health financing system had benefited facilities even in some of the country’s remotest areas.
Abdullahi also challenged politicians opposed to SHA to provide an alternative rather than simply promising to scrap the programme.
“I have heard some politicians say they will do away with SHA. Then replace it with what? That, to us, is akin to stripping off tarmac from a paved road,” he said.
His remarks come as SHA continues to attract both support and criticism, with questions previously raised over registration, claims processing, financing, access to services and the transition from NHIF.
United Nations Resident Coordinator Dr Garry Conille said the UN would continue working with Kenya to strengthen institutions, build capacity and support efforts towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.
He said strong institutions and sustained investment would be critical to ensuring that health reforms deliver lasting benefits to Kenyans.
The summit was attended by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Members of Parliament and members of the diplomatic corps.
