The Health Cabinet Secretary, Aden Duale, has announced a crackdown on unqualified health practitioners and those using fraudulent means to receive funds from the national insurance scheme, as well as facilities operating unlawfully in the country.
Speaking during a meeting with the Council of Governors (COG) Health Committee on Monday, April 14, the CS said that the ministry will involve other security agencies to curb the cases.
The CS further said that the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) will also be highly vigilant and will not register unqualified or 'nonexistent' medical facilities and personnel in the country.
"The KMPDC cannot take pride anymore; they cannot register a facility that does not exist, and they cannot change the level of a facility. It will not be going to be business as usual," he said.
"Some of these cases are not my responsibility; some of these cases I will refer to the agency that is responsible, such as the criminal justice system," he said.
According to Duale, the ministry has already flagged down and is investigating several facilities across the country for fraud and irregularities.
"This morning a facility in one of the counties has been flagged out just because the facility said that it has done 10 surgeries, but the doctor who they claim performed the surgeries is in a different county and he said that he has never been in that county and this is just one example today, and I can assure you we will deal with fraud," he said.
Duale vowed to work collaboratively with the county governments to ensure that there is integrity, transparency, and accountability in the country's health sector to guarantee the health and well-being of Kenyans.
Duale, who acknowledged the critical role of human resources in the rollout of the Social Health Authority (SHA), said that the ministry will be at the vanguard in ensuring that all the grievances of medical personnel in the country are addressed.
"It was agreed that the Digital Health Agency will assess and consider operational health information systems within the counties and expedite the digitalisation of all health facilities across Kenya’s 47 counties," he said.
Duale further assured that the ministry will kickstart the sensitisation next month, which is aimed at elevating public awareness of the role of SHA in the new health financing model.
"These measures are aligned with the broader goals of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which aims to enhance the resilience and responsiveness of Kenya’s health system," he said.
