The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening Kenya’s healthcare system through reforms, strategic financing, and closer collaboration between the national and county governments as it pushes forward with the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda.
This emerged during an engagement between the Ministry of Health and the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Health at Bunge Towers in Nairobi, where Health CS Aden Duale led the presentation of the 2026/2027 Financial Year Estimates for the State Department for Medical Services.
The session focused on accelerating healthcare reforms through investments in health systems strengthening, workforce support, digital transformation, and improved service delivery across the country.
MOH outlined the mandate of the State Department for Medical Services, highlighting its role in policy direction, regulatory coordination, institutional capacity strengthening, management of national referral services, and technical support to county governments.
Digital Reforms and Local Manufacturing Prioritised
Among the major priorities presented to the committee were expansion of local manufacturing of medical products and technologies, modernization of healthcare systems through digitization, and stronger accountability mechanisms aimed at improving efficiency and access to quality healthcare.
Community Health Promoters (CHPs) featured prominently in the discussions, with the Ministry emphasizing their role in linking households to healthcare services and strengthening primary healthcare interventions at the grassroots level.
CS Duale said the government plans to replace and upgrade CHP kits to improve service delivery and support preventive and promotive healthcare initiatives within communities.
In a major welfare boost, the Ministry announced plans to transition 107,000 Community Health Promoters into the Social Health Authority (SHA) comprehensive medical scheme through a joint framework involving both national and county governments.
Ministry Pushes for Increased Health Financing
The Ministry also appealed for increased budgetary allocations to support several underfunded but critical programmes.
These include operationalisation of the East Africa Centre for Excellence in Urology and Nephrology, strengthening the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Services, scaling up the Primary Healthcare Fund to sustain outpatient services at Level 2 and 3 facilities, and increasing support for the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund.
Additional funding was also requested for national referral hospitals facing growing operational and staffing pressures.
On UHC healthcare workers, the Ministry confirmed that contracts have been extended until June 30, 2026, to allow counties adequate time to absorb them on permanent and pensionable terms.
The committee was further briefed on ongoing reforms targeting health financing efficiency, supply chain strengthening, digital health infrastructure, and uninterrupted availability of essential medicines.
The Ministry said protecting health financing remains critical to Kenya’s economic resilience and human capital development, adding that immunization funding has been safeguarded to sustain gains made in child health and prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
