Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has pointed to improved medicine supplies, wider access to medical equipment and increased recruitment and training of health workers as some of the key gains the government is recording in its health reforms since taking office in 2022.
Speaking during the opening of the Kenya Health Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Tuesday, Duale said the changes were helping turn the government’s universal health coverage plans into services that Kenyans could see across the health system.
He said the two-day summit was giving the government and health sector stakeholders an opportunity to take stock of the reforms, measure progress made since 2022 and compare the administration’s initial health plans with what has been achieved so far.
Duale singled out the availability of essential medicines as one of the areas where the government had made major progress, citing improvements at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA).
He said KEMSA’s national order fill rate had risen from 35 per cent when the current administration took office to 95 per cent in 2026, meaning health facilities were now receiving a much larger share of the medicines and other essential commodities they order.
“A health system is only as credible as a medicine on its shelves. When this administration came into office, the national order-fill rate at Kenya Medical Supplies Authority stood at 35 percent. In plain language, a facility that ordered 10 essential commodities received fewer than four. Today, that rate stands at 95%,” Duale said.
The CS attributed the improvement to the recapitalisation of KEMSA through a Sh10 billion credit facility, the strengthening of regional distribution centres and the digitisation of the supply chain.
KEMSA remains a key part of the government’s health commodities supply chain, procuring, storing and distributing essential health products to public health facilities.
Treasury’s approved 2026/27 budget has allocated KEMSA Sh20.892 billion, up from Sh5.2 billion in the previous financial year.
The increased funding comes as the authority continues working to strengthen its supply chain while facing financial and operational challenges. KEMSA reported in May that counties, individual health facilities and the Ministry of Health owed it Sh8.9 billion as of April 30, 2026.
The authority has also been seeking additional resources to operationalise the Embakasi Supply Chain Centre and regional distribution hubs in Kisumu and Mombasa.
Duale said KEMSA was now supplying more than 11,400 health facilities, with 54 per cent of its distribution going to Level Two and Level Three primary healthcare facilities.
Data on KEMSA’s website also shows the scale of its current operations, with its 2026 analysis listing 86,763 orders distributed, 1,114 stock-keeping units dispatched and 11,263 health facilities and HIV testing sites served.
Beyond medicines, Duale said the government had expanded access to diagnostic services through the National Equipment Support Programme.
As of July 30, 2026, he said medical equipment worth Sh9.68 billion had been installed in 251 health facilities across 44 counties.
The equipment includes 60 CT scanners, two MRI machines, 52 digital X-ray machines and 72 ultrasound machines.
“Not long ago, a Kenyan who needed a CT scan had two options: travel to Nairobi or go without a diagnosis. Today, that scan, that equipment is available in the great majority of our counties, and it's paid for by Taifa Care,” he said.
Duale also highlighted investment in healthcare workers, saying the government had deployed 24,573 healthcare interns across all 47 counties at a cost of Sh19 billion.
Annual internship placements have increased from 3,373 in the 2022-2023 financial year to 6,800 in 2026, creating more opportunities for newly trained healthcare professionals.
The government has also sponsored 262 medical registrars across 35 specialties, while Sh3.5 billion has been released to clear accrued basic salary arrears owed to doctors.
Duale said the government was further employing 5,000 additional nurses to help address staffing shortages in the health sector.
He said primary healthcare remained at the centre of the government’s universal health coverage plan, with Sh27 billion invested over the past two financial years and Sh19 billion allocated in the current financial year.
“We invest in primary healthcare because 70% of the disease burden in our country is at the primary healthcare,” Duale maintained.
The CS said the reforms were being carried out jointly by the national and county governments, noting that health is a devolved function.
He said the summit would focus on healthcare financing, primary and community health, human resources, medical supplies, health security, digitalisation as well as specialised and referral services.
The meeting is also bringing together patients, healthcare workers, professional associations, unions, governors and development partners to review the reforms and assess their impact on the health system.
Duale said the government would use a town-hall session during the summit to respond to concerns raised by the public and give Kenyans an opportunity to assess the administration’s promises against what has been delivered.