Newly appointed Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale on Tuesday took over office at Afya House, where he said the Kenya Kwanza government was committed to transforming the country’s healthcare sector, especially the Social Health Authority (SHA).
Speaking to the press during an official handover of the Health docket from CS Deborah Barasa, Duale affirmed that the government was fully committed to addressing the grievances raised by Kenyans and health service providers to enable the functionality of SHA.
He directed the settlement of Social Health Authority (SHA) claims for hospitals to be cleared by the 14th day of every month.
“Moving forward, SHA will settle hospital claims by the 14th of every month, ensuring financial stability for healthcare providers,” Duale said.
Payment out of the Social Health Insurance Fund stood at Sh22.2 billion, while payments out of the Primary Healthcare Fund stood at Sh3.2 billion.
The CS also highlighted that a total of 20.8 million Kenyans have so far registered with the SHA, along with 5.7 million of their dependents.
The top five counties leading in registration, he said, are Mombasa, Bomet, Nyeri, Elgeyo Marakwet and Kirinyaga.
To address the long-standing human resource challenges within the Ministry, Duale committed to expediting the resolution of pending issues, including finalising Collective Bargaining Agreements with various unions.
