The State will deploy the whole of government approach as it targets to register 60% of households in each county into the Social Health Authority (SHA) by October 1 in efforts to ensure that the implementation process is smooth and seamless.
Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Dr. Deborah Barasa said that all the changes being done under SHA would be meaningless unless Kenyans know about them and take full advantage.
Speaking on Wednesday during a consultative meeting between the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Interior and National Administration on the roll out of SHA, the CS said that after almost a year of preparations, they were now ready to roll out the services under SHA.
“It is our role as a government to ensure there is no confusion on what is expected of members of public. Critically, we must educate the public on their responsibilities and especially the fact that they need to register to access services,” said Dr. Barasa.
She disclosed that despite their concerted efforts to sensitize the public, a lot of skepticism expressed by sections of the public was based on lack of proper appreciation of the full benefits of social health insurance.
“It is now time we combed our villages and directly engaged the public on the real benefits of the Social Health Authority. At this point, the priority is to get households registered, make contributions in readiness for services on 1st October,” said the CS.
Dr. Barasa called on officers from Interior and National Administration to engage the community through the village elders, chiefs, and Community Health Promoters on SHA rollout.
“Share this message at every public forum you are present, be it in your barazas, funerals, weddings, school events and all other opportunities that you may have,” urged Dr. Barasa.
She explained that Kenya has made significant progress in the health sector geared towards delivering quality healthcare.
Dr. Barasa said that the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda focuses on four pillars of sustainable health financing mechanisms, digital health system integration for efficiency, effective supply chain for health products and technologies and adequate and skilled human resources for health.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
