By E, KNA
Garissa county commissioner Mohamed Mwabudzo has called out a section of religious leaders in the north eastern region for opposing the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) over claims that the fund generates interests.
Speaking during the official opening of the new Garissa county assembly offices Tuesday, the county commissioner regretted that some residents in the county are still seeking to raise hospital funds through fundraisings and proformas yet the government has introduced a working health insurance programme that is accessible to all Kenyans.
Mwabudzo called on Kenyans who have not registered themselves to do so and ignore unfounded utterances by religious leaders opposed to the health fund.
“There have been a lot of baseless claims against the Social Health Authority (SHA). This is a government health insurance programme where you contribute a certain amount so that you can be covered for free treatment in hospitals. I don’t know where the issue of interest comes in here,” Mwabudzo said.
“There are Sheikhs who are opposing this fund, I am a Muslim and I don’t see where there is accumulation of interest in SHA. Let us stop invoking religion on these matters and give an opportunity for all people to access health services through this cover,” he added.
According to the Garissa county SHA manager Ahmed Mohamed, only 167,900 people in the county have so far registered with the authority, translating to only 18.5 per cent.
Mohamed attributed the low registration rate to lack of enough sensitisation and called for concerted efforts from both the county government who supervise the community health promoters and the National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) to rally Kenyans to join the fund.
Other challenges have been attributed to low network coverage especially in the most interior parts of the county.