Machakos: Over 147, 000 households registered in SHA – PS Muthoni

Some 147, 050 households have so far been registered under the Social Health Authority programme in Machakos County since it was rolled out in the country, Health PS Mary Muthoni has said.

Muthoni said the numbers were expected to go higher in the exercise being conducted by the National Government Administration Officers in collaboration with Community Health Volunteers across the country.

She said 193, 116 residents had been sensitised on the SHA programme in Machakos County.

“We are hoping that with the SHA rollout, services are going to be super in most of the hospitals. We implore to the people of this country to register for the Social Health Authority because, in one way or another, there are three things that we have to learn from the Social Health Authority,” Muthoni said.

Muthoni addressed the press in Machakos County on Monday.

“Unlike NHIF, where only 20 per cent of Kenyans used to get services through NHIF, we are rolling out 100 per cent of Kenyans, including you and me, that nobody will ever go to a hospital in this country again and fail to get services or attend to,” Muthoni said.

She said there were three funds that would take care of that; the Primary Healthcare Fund that would take care of ‘mashinani’ dispensaries and health facilities, the Social Health Insurance Fund that would take care of secondary and tertiary services and the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund, which will take care of long term illnesses.

Muthoni underscored the need for collaboration with the 47 county governments to make the SHA rollout successful in the country.

“Our SHA teams have rolled out on the ground. Our CHVs and NGAO are doing commendable jobs to register individuals and households. In Machakos specifically, the National Government, in collaboration with CHVs have been able to register 147, 050 households and it will continue. They have been able to sensitize more than 193, 000 households in this county,” Muthoni said.

She held a meeting with all the 47 county public health officers, noting that it was the first ever that happened since devolution’s conception in 2013.

“I’m happy to start a conversation with them to rekindle public health issues driven by public health officers across the country. When we were growing up, we could see PHOs coming to inspect schools, homes, facilities, and food kiosks, and nobody could operate without a license. I think it’s time that we enforced these issues so that we can serve the people of this country better,” Muthoni said.

Muthoni said that would help reduce issues of food, water and vector-borne diseases such as Malaria which is at a prevalence of 6 per cent in the country.

“We are struggling to lower the prevalence of waterborne diseases like malaria in the country, and so is cholera. Cholera is a disease that is preventable. With the rollout of our 107, 000 community health promoters across the country, we are seeking collaboration between the health workers and community health promoters to ensure that there is interreliability and coordination to give our people at the bottom of the pyramid the information they require,” Muthoni said.

She said prevention, promotion, and protection were the way to go.