By Jabali Media
Kenyans have been reminded to register with the Social Health Authority (SHA), for easy access to medical services whenever hospitalized.
Addressing the press during commemoration of the World Health Day 2025 in Kisumu on Monday, Dorothy Okemo, Executive Director, Access to Medicines Platform – Kenya said paying for medication out of pocket is very expensive.
“Many people, especially at the community level have not registered with SHA. That means that if they have health problems, they have to go to the facility and pay money to be admitted and that has been a big problem,” she stated.
The commemoration brought together various stakeholders, including members of the community in a town hall meeting format on citizen-led accountability for integration of maternal and newborn health into Primary Health Care (PHC).
Dorothy said the government – both at the national and county level should work with various sector players to ensure the healthcare system works right from the lowest level.
“We have to make sure that the health care system, from the lowest level to the highest level is streamlined and that the referral pathway is strengthened so that we don't lose a mother or a child during childbirth,” she noted.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, over 9 million Kenyans have registered for SHA, since the roll-out of the new healthcare scheme in October 2024.
Regrettably, the majority of those who registered are nor remitting their monthly contributions, curtaining the Authority’s bid to fund medication for its members.
Dr. Michael Obanda called on registered Kenyans to make sure their payments are up to date.
“One of the main gaps that has been realized based on what the community is saying is that the coverage is still low. The main gap that is also coming up for those who are registered is that the majority of them are actually not up to date in terms of payment,” he said.
“So, we were trying to encourage them that as much as you're registering, there's also that particular responsibility of ensuring that your monthly contributions are actually up to date, which basically gives them enough resources to support service delivery.”
Agnes Dawa, from the Kisumu County Department of Health noted that the Lakeside County is not doing well in SHA registration.
“We are still not doing well. We are at 34% of our population, which is about 1.3 million. So, we still have work to do,” she shared.
The county, she added, has put in several measures to increase the registration percentage, including enlisting the services of Community Health Promoters (CHPs).
“Almost all our health facilities, we have a community health promoter who is actually doing the registration.”
Her sentiments were corroborated by Carloine Atieno, who is a CHP in Kisumu’s Nyalenda estate.
The World Health Day theme for 2025 is “Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures.”
