Ruto's healthcare gamble: Healthcare reforms must impact lives of all Kenyans

UHC reforms through the experience of odinary Kenyans.[ File, Courtesy]

There is a question Kenya has avoided for too long in its debate about Universal Health Coverage (UHC): What does healthcare reform look like to a Kenyan who has no money when illness strikes? This question is particularly important as the country approaches another election year.

President William Ruto's administration has undertaken one of Kenya's most consequential healthcare reforms in decades. National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has been replaced by the Social Health Authority (SHA), primary healthcare has received renewed attention, Community Health Promoters(CHPs) have been deployed, digital health systems are expanding, and the government reports millions of SHA registrations, billions of shillings in claims payments and thousands of contracted facilities.