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Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale now says over 24.4 million Kenyans have now registered under the Social Health Authority (SHA).
While lauding the ongoing national campaign and registration efforts, Duale said many Kenyans are now voluntarily registering without coercion.
Speaking on Friday at King Fahad Hospital in Lamu County, Duale said 70,000 residents have registered in Lamu, with 21,000 enrolling on Thursday alone.
“Across the country, Lamu ranks tenth, with Mombasa County leading since the campaign began,” said Duale.
The CS said the massive registration is a clear testimony that there is a growing public confidence in the benefits offered by SHA.
“SHA is working. Those making negative remarks don’t know what is going on. Here in Lamu, people have turned out and registered freely,” he said.
The CS announced that King Fahad Hospital will be upgraded to a Level 5 teaching and referral hospital to improve healthcare access in the region.
“I’ve instructed that an inspection team visit next week so that some of the 6,000 intern doctors we’ve recruited can be posted here,” he added.
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Duale said SHA is a more inclusive and efficient system than the now-defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), which he said served only 20 out of every 100 employed Kenyans.
“SHA is far better than NHIF. It is already benefiting millions with affordable and efficient healthcare,” he stated.
The CS also commissioned several projects including a state-of-the-art oxygen plant and newly built private wards.
The CS emphasised that the era of overcrowding hospital beds to inflate claims is over. He specifically pointed at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi.
“KNH has a capacity of 1,800 patients. That is the number they should admit. If they want to admit more, let them buy more beds,” said Duale.
“It is my responsibility to clean up the healthcare sector, and I am ready to lose my job doing so. I’ve started today with KNH and that culture of crowding beds and billing SHA must end,"he added.
Duale also highlighted SHA’s family-friendly coverage, particularly beneficial for larger families.
“I’m happy—it’s like SHA was made for Muslims. It covers four wives and an unlimited number of children, unlike NHIF which only covered one wife,” he said.
He cited specific SHA benefits, noting that the system pays Sh28,000 per night for ICU stays and covers childbirth for free, including up to Sh30,000 for Caesarean sections.
On medical supplies, Duale said KEMSA will soon start distributing drugs across all counties as part of ongoing reforms to improve efficiency and accessibility.
SHA has rolled out a nationwide registration campaign as the government pushes for universal healthcare access.
The campaign has so far covered counties like Migori and Kajiado, Lamu with plans to head to Taita Taveta on Friday.
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