The Deputy Government Spokesperson, Mwanaisha Chidzuga, has called upon Makueni residents to register with the Social Health Authority (SHA) to tap the resultant benefits whenever they go for treatment in hospitals.
Chidzuga asked wananchi to go to government health facilities, Huduma centres, or use their phones, as well as Community Health Promoters (CHPs), who have been given gadgets that could enable them to register at the grass roots.
Consequently, she reminded the principal contributors to ensure they register their families, which include spouses, children, and any other dependents, so that they do not miss treatment when they go to the hospital.
“If you register with SHA, you don’t have to pay any money. The Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) will cater for the treatment. There is a need to go to health facilities, Huduma centres, CHPs, or use your phone to register in order to benefit,” said Chidzuga at Makueni Mother and Child Hospital in Wote town, Thursday.
She said this while sensitising wananchi and also registering them in an event organised jointly with the Department of Health Makueni, SHA Makueni Branch, and national government.
“Out of 1,000,000 people in the county, only 100,000 have registered with SHA, which is 10%. For the programme to succeed, I urge the residents to supplement government efforts, for this is a collective responsibility,” she posed.
While warning Wananchi against waiting to fall sick to register, Chidzuga said SHA, if one pays today, they will still benefit from the services at the hospital, unlike NHIF, where one had to wait for 60 days for the insurance to mature.
“The beauty of SHA is you don’t have to wait. You get treatment immediately, unlike NHIF, where one had to wait for 60 days for it to mature,” she observed.
Further, Chidzuga noted that initially, SHA had challenges, but now they have been addressed, and many patients were getting services, as attested in Makueni County Referral Hospital.
On debts, she said that the government had already released monies to pay health facilities, and Wananchi could now seek treatment without much problem.
Consequently, she noted that the hospitals that charge wananchi have not signed a contract with SHA, hence challenging the residents to seek treatment from health facilities that have a contract to avert paying for medical services.
“The government has released Sh9 billion to pay debts across the country. For us now, we are verifying the claims and refunding the money immediately to health facilities,” said SHA Eastern Regional Manager Brian Mugambi.
Mugambi disclosed that already, 38 private hospitals and 37 mission hospitals have registered with SHA, and Wananchi could seek treatment without any problem.
Speaking at the same function, Department of Health Chief Officer Dr. Stephen Ndolo said that 242 health facilities have registered with SHA.
While saying most of the challenges faced earlier have been addressed, Dr. Ndolo said that people were accessing services without any problem, hence emphasising the need for wananchi to register to avoid missing medical attention.
On his part, Makueni County Commissioner Duncan Darusi said that the national and county governments and SHA would organise for mass registration in the county soon to ensure people were registered so they could benefit from the programme.
Earlier, Chidzuga had paid a courtesy call to Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili, who said that the county government was happy with the implementation of SHA and lauded the national government for being a sole provider for primary care levels 1, 2, and 3 hospitals.
By Patrick Nyakundi
