President William Ruto has announced that the government will begin paying health insurance contributions under the Social Health Authority (SHA) for all Community Health Promoters (CHPs).
Speaking on Tuesday, August 18, Ruto said the arrangement will take effect from Monday, August 24, with county governments responsible for half of the contributions while the national government will cover the remaining half.
"We have committed to pay SHA for every Community Health Promoter effective Monday. 50% to be paid by the county government and 50% by the national government," he said.
Meanwhile, Ruto also announced plans to improve the employment terms of doctors and other health workers recruited under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme.
He said the government has committed to transition all doctors and health workers hired under the UHC programme from contractual employment to permanent and pensionable terms beginning this month.
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"We have committed to transition all doctors and health workers hired under the UHC program from contract to permanent and pensionable, from this month. Additionally, we have also committed to hire 5000 health workers this year," he added.
Ruto further said the government would establish committees to facilitate engagement with health workers and address their concerns through dialogue.
He urged health workers to pursue negotiations with the government without resorting to industrial action, saying both sides were capable of reaching an agreement through engagement.
"We will establish the necessary committees for us to engage with health workers. Please let’s do it without a strike. We are ready to engage and I’m sure we will agree. All of us are reasonable people," he further said.
This comes months after the National Assembly’s Committee on Health raised alarm over the quality of smartphones issued to CHPs to support the implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Speaking on Tuesday, May 12, Seme Member of Parliament James Nyikal noted that most of the devices issued to 100,000 CHPs had become faulty.
During the session, Medical Services Principal Secretary Ouma Oluga told the MPs that the Medical Services State Department prioritised settling Ksh 876.9 million in pending bills for the purchase of smartphones for the health promoters.
The revelation triggered a sharp reaction from members of the committee, who said they had interacted with the health promoters and confirmed that most of the devices were not functioning.
"I interact with the CHPs, including recently, and I confirm that over 60 per cent of the phones distributed to the grassroots health workers do not work. Most of them say they cannot even log on to the gadgets where they are supposed to provide reports," Kisumu Central MP Joshua Oron said
Nyikal, who chairs the committee, said the Ministry of Health would be required to provide a report on the status of the devices before additional funds could be approved for the purchase of more smartphones.
"Kenyans need value for their money. We cannot allocate more money for the ministry to buy smartphones that did not work," said Nyikal.
In response, Oluga said the ministry had taken note of the concerns raised by the Committee and would provide all the necessary documentation.
"We will provide the necessary documents to the Committee, including conducting an assessment of the performance of the phones," he stated.
The smartphone distribution programme was launched in late 2023 to support digital registration, data collection, and reporting through the Electronic Community Health Information System.
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