The Principal Secretary for the State Department of Medical Services, Harry Kimtai, on Tuesday, announced that the government had launched Multi-Sectoral Steering Committees to oversee and streamline the implementation of the Social Health Authority (SHA) program at the county level.
Kimtai announced that the committees, which will be chaired by County Executive Committees (CECs) will also include representatives from National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs), Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs), the Kenya Health Federation (KHF), and the Social Health Authority (SHA).
“These committees will include representatives from County Executive Committees (CECs), National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs), Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs), the Kenya Health Federation (KHF), and the Social Health Authority, with CECs chairing to ensure efficient operations at the grassroots level,” the statement by the ministry of health read.
The PS was speaking at a high-profile meeting attended by major stakeholders in the Health sector including the SHA CEO Elijah Wachira and the Director of Health at the Council of Governors Khatra Ali.
The program is slated to ensure that the SHA transition is efficient for every Kenyan starting at the grassroots level until every Kenyan is absorbed in the Universal Health Care programme.
This involvement of key stakeholders in the transition is expected to help streamline the process and help in effectively addressing any challenges encountered as the committee will also operate in a monitoring capacity.
Kimtai also highlighted the importance of the collaboration between the national government and the county governments in the transition to ensure the programme is implemented as it was supposed to be, and make sure all Kenyans countrywide experience similar outcomes.
Although not part of the set multi-sectoral committees, he also commended the role that the Community Health Promoters (CHPs) have played in sensitizing the SHA programme in the grassroots level and household registration.
While sharing an update on the increased number of SHA registrations made so far, Kimtai also lauded the impact of the Digital Health Authority (DHA) in digitising the process which has seen over 13 million registrations so far.
He noted that the ministry would continue to explore the technology by providing more tablets to health facilities to help in the process. 5,000 tablets have already been disbursed with 65,000 being the end goal.
Kimtai reiterated that the success of the SHA transition depended highly on this new programme noting, “The success of the SHA program depends on ongoing collaboration with County Governments, KHF, FBOs, and other stakeholders.”
The SHA transition which has faced intense opposition since its implementation has faced several challenges including technical failures in the digitised system and health facilities turning away registered members over debts still owed by the government from the now-defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
