Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki has expressed confidence that the Universal Health Coverage being implemented by the Social Health Authority (SHA) will be successful, challenging African countries to emulate Kenya’s resolve to ensure all its citizens enjoy a public-funded health insurance.
Speaking on Wednesday when he presided over the closing ceremony of the World Health Summit Regional Meeting at the United Nations office in Nairobi, the DP said Kenya’s Taifa Care is not a quest to achieve a political ambition but fulfilment of a Constitutional requirement.
“Kenya reaffirms its commitment to Universal Health Coverage through the Social Health Authority (SHA). Taifa Care is not a political Programme, it is a constitutional right to ensure that no Kenyan is denied healthcare because of inability to pay,” DP noted.
While acknowledging its teething challenges given implementation is only in its second year following the official launch in October 2024, Prof. Kindiki stated that the government is working with various partners to perfect it as more Kenyans subscribe to the scheme.
“We are fine-tuning our UHC programme and working with partners to ensure its perfection,” he said.
Key areas that are being fine-tuned include ensuring availability of essential medical commodities at all health facilities, crucially those in the most remote areas, recruitment of more health personnel and acquisition of adequate health infrastructure. Also revamping SHA actuarial science to the coverage sustainability.
The Deputy President called on African countries to be bold and adopt transformative health programmes to ascertain the health of their people and the continent’s progress.
“Let us implement bold reforms in how health is financed, governed, and delivered, anchored in the pursuit of Universal Health Coverage and Africa’s broader development goals,” he stressed.
Prof. Kindiki emphasized the need for political goodwill, courage and determination to nurture a healthy continent, relying on its creativity and resolve to protect the health of its people.
“The message from Nairobi 2026 is simple, direct, and non-negotiable: Africa’s health future will not be given to us, it will be built by us.
It will require political courage, institutional discipline, sustained investment and an unshakeable conviction that African lives matter equally on the global stage,” the DP said.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
