Ruto orders SHA enrolment for health promoters

President Ruto at State House, Nairobi. [PCS]

President William Ruto has ordered every Community Health Promoter (CHP) to receive a new screening kit and smartphone within 90 days under a digitisation push.

Ruto issued the directive on Saturday at State House, Nairobi, where he hosted a section of Community Health Promoters.

The announcement followed complaints from CHPs that diagnostic and medical tool kits distributed earlier by the Ministry of Health had become outdated, hampering household health checks, disease screening and basic care.

Ruto directed Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale to replace the equipment.

"I have instructed the Health CS to ensure every Community Health Promoter countrywide receives a new CHP kit within 90 days and new smartphones to ease their operations," he said.

The president also announced that all CHPs will be enrolled under the Social Health Authority (SHA), with Sh390 million already set aside for the programme. Counties will contribute half the amount.

"It cannot be that they are helping us serve Kenyans yet they and their families have no medical cover," Ruto noted.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja presented a cheque for Sh30 million during the event to support SHA cover for CHPs in the county.

Ruto said the government will keep investing in training and professional development for CHPs and equip them with the tools needed to serve communities.

The country has more than 107,000 CHPs, he noted, describing them as central to achieving universal health coverage through preventive care.

"Investing in community health is one of the most effective ways of improving health outcomes and accelerating our journey towards universal health coverage by focusing on preventive healthcare," he said.

Nairobi's CHPs have registered more than 800,000 households onto the electronic Community Health Information System under the SHA programme, Ruto said.

They have conducted nearly 2.7 million diabetes screenings, reaching close to 940,000 people, with nearly 30,000 referred for treatment.

CHPs have also carried out 2.16 million hypertension screenings, reaching more than 743,000 people, with over 50,000 referred to health facilities. They assessed 1.13 million children under five for malnutrition, diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia.

Ruto dismissed claims by some politicians that SHA is not working, insisting the programme is making steady progress.

The CHP programme, launched in October 2023, has deployed more than 107,000 trained promoters, each serving about 100 households.

They provide preventive care, health education, basic first aid, disease surveillance and referrals to health facilities.