The Ministry of Health has released venues for public participation and stakeholder engagement on draft regulations for the Digital Health Act, 2023 and the draft regulatory impact system.
In a communication on Thursday, the ministry directed all interested persons to submit written comments on the draft regulations and draft regulatory impact statement.
The template to submit comments will contain four sections.
From the left, there will be regulations/clauses, issues of concern, justification and recommendations at the far end.
“The comments, views, representation, and any written memoranda may be forwarded to the office of the Principal Secretary, State Department for Medical Services, Nairobi; hand-delivered to the office of the PS, State Department for Medical Services on Afya House 6th Floor, Nairobi,” Health CS Deborah Barasa said.
“They can also be emailed to [email protected] to be received on or before December 19, 2024, at 5 pm.”
Barasa said the drafts for the three regulations; the Digital Health (Health Information Management) Regulations, 2024, the Digital Health (Data Exchange) Regulations, 2024, and, the Digital Health (Use of e-Health Applications and Technologies) Regulations, 2024, can be found at the https://www.health.go.ke.
In the Upper Eastern region including Embu, Marsabit, Isiolo, Meru and Tharaka Nithi, the meeting will be held at the Catholic Diocese of Isiolo Hall.
The meeting will be held on December 9, 2024.
Those in the Nyanza region being Homa Bay, Siaya, Kisumu, Kisii, Migori and Nyamira, will meet at Mama Grace Onyango Cultural and Social Centre in Kisumu on December 9.
Citizens in the Central region: Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Murang’a will meet at Nyeri Cultural Hall on December 11, 2024.
In the Western region of Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma and Busia, the venue will be at Magharibi Hall in Kakamega on December 11.
On December 13, residents of South Rift Valley region being Nakuru, Narok, Bomet, Kericho, Baringo, Samburu, Laikipia, will meet at Nakuru’s Regional Commissioners Hall.
Those in the North Rift Valley region of Turkana, Nandi, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Trans Nzoia and West Pokot will be at the Eldoret County Hall on December 13, 2024.
In the Coast region being Mombasa, TaitaTaveta, Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu and Tana River, the venue is Technical University of Mombasa on December 17, 2024.
Residents of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera will meet at the ICT Hall Wajir Town on December 17, 2024.
In Nairobi, Kiambu and Kajiado will meet at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) on December 19, 2024.
On the same day, the residents of Lower Eastern region: Machakos, Kitui, Makueni, will meet at Kitui Multi-Purpose Hall.
All meetings will be held from 9am to 12 noon, then 2 pm to 5 pm for the afternoon session.
For the morning session, the public and stakeholders will be sensitised on the provisions of the Digital Health Act, the three sets of draft regulations and the draft regulatory impact statement.
In the afternoon, there will oral submission on draft regulations and regulatory impact statement to ensure that persons likely to be affected by the statutory instruments have adequate opportunity to give their views on the instruments.
The Act in question was enacted on October 19, 2023, bestowing powers to the Health Cabinet Secretary, in consultation with the Digital Health Agency and the county governments, the power to make regulations for various matters required to be prescribed under the Act.
