During his 2022 presidential campaign, President William Ruto focused on expanding
and improving Kenya's healthcare system with a focus on affordability,
accessibility, and efficiency.
His approach involved modernising healthcare infrastructure, improving
healthcare insurance schemes, and making medicines more affordable for the
average Kenyan.
Ruto emphasised his commitment to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC),
a promise to ensure that all Kenyans, regardless of their socio-economic
status, would have access to affordable and quality healthcare services.
He pledged to expand access to health services by investing in healthcare
infrastructure and human resources in the sector.
One of his notable promises was to make healthcare more affordable through
the provision of subsidized health insurance.
Ruto proposed establishing a national health insurance scheme that would
reduce the financial burden on Kenyans, especially those in lower-income
brackets.
This was in contrast to the existing National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF)
which he claimed had not been as effective in addressing the needs of the poor.
Shift from NHIF to SHA
True to his word, the President has seen the improvement of the health
care system, with the shift from NHIF to Social Health Authority (SHA) - Taifa care.
Since its rollout on October 1, 2024, over 15.2 million Kenyans have now
registered with SHA, advancing the goal of a fully publicly financed primary
healthcare system.
The program includes 8,336
contracted healthcare facilities, with 5,210 government-owned, 319 faith-based
and 2,807 private facilities.
The government dispatched 70 ICT specialists to support the nationwide rollout of SHA, aiming at streamlining access to the new healthcare schemes.
State Department of Medical Services Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai, explained that the officers were deployed to address system challenges many health facilities have encountered, particularly delays in obtaining login credentials necessary for SHA services.
"Our service providers and digital health agencies have
designated 70 technical ICT experts who will be deployed to support every county to ensure the facilities without issued credentials get them
and continue providing the services", he said
The deployment of ICT officials, he added, was expected to
accelerate the rollout by ensuring users' access and efficiency to navigate the
system.
On November 18, while addressing the
media, governors urged Kenyans and stakeholders to refrain from premature
criticism of the new healthcare plan.
Led by the Council of Governors
(CoG) Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi, the county bosses called for patience during
the SHA rollout, describing the challenges faced as "teething
problems."
“There is nothing new that does not come with teething problems. It’s
normal, but we must focus on making SHA work,” Abdullahi said.
The Governor said 5,300 public health facilities have already been
registered, licensed, and empanelled under SHA.
During a meeting with faith-based health stakeholders at Landmark Plaza on November
25, Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa confirmed significant progress in
the implementation of Taifa Care and the roll-out of the SHA.
“The Ministry is committed to ensuring every Kenyan has
access to quality and affordable healthcare, and we are achieving this through
strategic collaborations and the successful implementation of the four UHC
laws,” Barasa said.
Mpox
Mpox, formerly known
as monkeypox, is a viral infection that spreads through close contact and
typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.
Initially reported
in DR Congo, the disease has spread to countries including Kenya, with 17 cases
confirmed, according to Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa.
Cases were also reported in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and countries like Sweden, India, Germany,
the US, and the UK, linked to travellers from affected regions.
An update of October
14 recorded Kenya’s first Mpox death. Then, Public Health Principal Secretary
Mary Muthoni said the number of confirmed cases in the country stood at 13.
Nakuru had two
cases, Kajiado (2), Bungoma (2), Taita Taveta (1), Busia (1), Nairobi (1),
Mombasa (1), Makueni (1), Kericho (1) and Kilifi (1)," she disclosed adding
that as of October 14, 2024, the National Public Health Laboratory had received
238 samples of which 13 tested positive while 225 tested negative.
On October 19, a pharmaceutical company based in the United States announced a research partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) to develop and test a vaccine for Mpox.
Tonix
Pharmaceuticals Holding Corporation stated that it would undertake Phase I
clinical trial of TNX-801 in Kenya, focusing on assessing the vaccine’s safety,
tolerability and immunogenicity.
Tonix CEO Seth
Lederman expressed his optimism about the collaboration, saying with the continued
spread of Mpox, there is a need for a single-dose vaccine.
“There is an urgent
need for a durable, single-dose vaccine like TNX-801. Preclinical data has been
highly encouraging, and we believe it aligns with the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) preferred characteristics for Mpox vaccines,” Lederman
said.
Kemri Director
General Elijah Songok said the partnership with Tonix Pharmaceuticals endeavoured
to address the global health threat posed by viruses.
“As an institute at
the forefront of medical research in Africa, we recognise the importance of
developing innovative solutions that are accessible and effective,” Songok
said.
In November it was
announced that Kenya will be among the first African countries who have been
allocated thousands of doses of the mpox vaccine, with the inoculation exercise
expected to begin later in November or December.
The donation was
made by Gavi, the European Union and the United States, which have surplus
jabs.
In total, the three
donated 899,000 doses to nine African countries including Kenya, Uganda,
Rwanda, the DRC, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria and
South Africa.
The amounts each
country would receive will be determined by the Access and Allocation Mechanism
platform established by the World Health Organization.
Ministry of Health
established a National Taskforce on M-pox and Marburg Virus Disease on
September 9.
The task force was
tasked to coordinate a whole-of-government response, including training
healthcare workers and establishing specialised treatment units.
The first phase
targeted the vaccination of approximately 1.4 million people who were at risk
of infection in the nine countries, by the end of 2024.
An initial 2.8
million doses of the MVA-BN vaccine were allocated for this effort.
The outbreak of
M-pox, particularly the surge of the viral strain clade Ib in the DR Congo and
neighbouring countries was declared a public health emergency of international
concern by WHO and a public health emergency of continental security by Africa CDC
in mid-August.
The epicentre of the outbreak remains the DRC, with over 38,000 suspected cases and over 1,000 deaths.
Memoranda of Understanding in the Health Sector
On November 26, the
government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International
Vaccine Institute (IVI) to establish and operationalise IVI’s country and AVEC
Africa project office in Kenya.
The AVEC Africa
project focused on accelerating vaccine research and development and
manufacturing across the continent.
This is done by
linking and enhancing existing African institutions and expertise across the
vaccine value chain.
The signing followed
the approval by the IVI’s Board of Trustees in February to establish the
Advancing Vaccine End-to-End Capabilities in Africa (AVEC Africa) project
office in Kenya to oversee its implementation.
The ratification
process was completed when Kenya deposited the instrument of accession on May
30, 2024, becoming a State Party of IVI.
A flag-raising
ceremony was held at IVI’s headquarters in Seoul on June 5, 2024, by President
William Ruto.
In June 2024, Liverpool Voluntary Counseling and Testing (LVCT) Health signed an MoU with Kiambu County
towards improving HIV healthcare and the well-being of the communities in the
region.
The partnership aimed
to leverage LVCT Health's expertise and resources to strengthen existing
healthcare initiatives, ensuring comprehensive support for those affected by
HIV.
The significant
partnership marked a major step forward in the organisation’s mission to
improve health care in African countries through strengthening policies and
health systems already in place.
The agreement aimed to
strengthen the County government’s capacity building to manage and sustain HIV
care and preventive services to accelerate progress towards sustainable
epidemic control and the 95:95:95 targets.
In January 2024, the
MoH and the Ministry of Defense signed an MoU in a significant move towards
fortifying national emergency response capabilities.
The collaborative
effort signified a comprehensive strategy covering research partnerships,
resource utilisation, personnel exchange programs, educational initiatives and
preparedness for national emergencies.
The collaboration
extended to critical areas such as research on infectious diseases, resource
use agreements, and personnel exchange programs, showcasing a holistic strategy
to tackle the multifaceted challenges in human health and security.
Notably, the
emphasis on climate change research and satellite surveillance as early warning
systems reflects a forward-looking approach to public health.
The collaboration's holistic government approach aimed not only to establish satellite surveillance centres but also to address emerging and re-emerging infections, particularly those posing a threat to national security through cross-border transmissions.