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By Antony Gitonga
Naivasha, Kenya: The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has announced plans to increase its membership from the current 4.5 million to 25 million members countrywide.
According to NHIF chairman Mohammed Maalim, the fund will in the coming week embark on a major awareness campaign across the country.
He said NHIF would target those in the informal sector adding that it expects to hit the target in two years.
Mr Maalim was addressing the Press in a Naivasha hotel after deliberations with county governments on how the fund would assist the poor at the grassroots.
He said the fund’s contract with the central government was expiring on June 30, 2014, and plans were under way to renew it with county governments.
Civil servants
“We have started discussions with county governments so that we can cover all those civil servants who have been transferred to counties,” he said.
Maalim said that some counties had expressed their willingness to support poor families join the fund for better health services.
He noted that currently the World Bank was supporting 300 needy families in all the 47 counties while the Government had introduced the subsidy programme also targeting the poor.
Maalim defended the awarding of the civil service health scheme to NHIF saying the tender was open and competitive.
“The Cabinet Secretary for Health has assured us of plans to fully equip two hospitals in every county and we are ready to work with county governments on health issues,” he said.
join