Senior Economic Advisor to President William Ruto, Moses Kuria, has disclosed that several African countries are eager to replicate Kenya’s Social Health Authority (SHA) system.
In an interview on January 20, Kuria stated that African leaders are closely watching Kenya’s progress with SHA, waiting for its completion to adopt it in their nations.
“I am getting calls from other countries, my friends and presidents from Africa telling me they can’t wait for Kenya to finish SHA, and they want to copy it,” Kuria revealed.
He mentioned that Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Ghana’s John Mahama, and Sierra Leone’s Julius Maada Bio are among those showing interest in adopting the SHA system in their respective countries.
“I can tell you in confidence that Zimbabwe, Ghana and Siera Leone want to copy our system,” he said.
Kuria explained that what Kenya is doing is unprecedented, even by Western standards, as having one unified health system for the entire country is a remarkable achievement.
“It is unprecedented that a country of our economic status, a third world country, to have the courage to say that we are going have a universal health care for all,” he said.
He said the government has done very well with SHA adding that the emerging issues are opportunities to fix the system.
Kuria Praises SHA System
Additionally, he said Kenya will have the best healthcare system after the completion of SHA implementation.
“We are a work in progress, I am not claiming perfection but what I am saying is that every single problem becomes an opportunity for us to be able to fix the system,” he said.
Kuria said the implementation just kicked off in Mombasa County.
He said the government targets to complete the rollout in all the counties by July 31, 2025.
Also Read: Kenyans to Register for SHA Before Entering Church
Patients Storm Afya House
This comes a few days after patients stormed Health CS Deborah Barasa’s media briefing to protest SHA technical hitches.
The patients who were unable to get services at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) due to SHA challenges visited the Ministry of Health offices on January 15 to seek answers.
The patients claimed that they had walked from KNH to Afya House to demand answers regarding issues that have persisted since the government transitioned from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to SHIF in October 2024.
“We have walked all the way from Kenyatta Hospital to the SHIF offices, but nothing has been done to help us,” lamented one of the patients, speaking in front of visibly startled officials.
Also Read: Govt Takes Position on Gachagua’s Call to Take Ruto to ICC
They argued that SHA had not been working for over one week.
He said patients were stranded in hospitals since the system was not approving payments.
“Please be aware that SHA is not working. We have other patients waiting outside the gate if you are willing to join them. We have come from as far as Kibwezi to get this service. SHA has not been working since Wednesday last week, and they are not approving,” cried out of the patients.
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