President William Ruto has acknowledged that Kenya has made significant progress towards achieving universal healthcare, with 32.3 million people now registered under the Social Health Authority (SHA).
Speaking on Tuesday during the opening of the Kenya Health Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Ruto said millions of Kenyans were already accessing medical services through the new system.
The President explained that his administration had undertaken major reforms to transform the country’s healthcare system, including increased financing, digitalisation, expanded community health services, improved medicine supplies and strengthened emergency care.
The Head of State noted that the reforms were intended to make healthcare more accessible and affordable while reducing the financial burden of illness on households.
He said universal healthcare was not simply a government policy but a constitutional obligation under Article 43, which guarantees every Kenyan the right to the highest attainable standard of health.
The reforms were introduced against a background in which many households struggled to afford medical care, with Kenyans spending an estimated Sh150 billion out of pocket every year.
Health CS Aden Duale speaking during the opening of the Kenya Health Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi on August 18, 2026. PHOTO/PCS
He said that by 2022, only about one in four Kenyans had health insurance, while coverage among the poorest households was below 5%.
“Universal healthcare is such a promise. For years, Kenya lived with a contradiction we should never have accepted: that access to healthcare could depend on the size of a citizen’s wallet. Illness could force a farmer to sell land or livestock, a mother to exhaust her savings, or a community to organise a harambee simply to keep one of their own alive. Too often, treatment became a debt and sickness a pathway into poverty.”
Ruto said the government had subsequently enacted four laws in October 2023 to establish the legal framework for universal health coverage, including the Primary Health Care Act, Social Health Insurance Act, Digital Health Act and Facilities Improvement Financing Act.
He noted that the reforms, known collectively as Taifa Care, had expanded healthcare access through community health services and financial protection for vulnerable households.
According to the President, 107,800 Community Health Promoters are now operating across the country, equipped with smartphones and essential kits to screen households, identify illnesses, monitor mothers and children and refer patients for treatment.
“More than 9 million households have been reached and over 750,000 people referred for further treatment. For the first time, we have built a nationwide health network whose first point of contact is not necessarily a hospital bed, but the doorstep of a Kenyan home.”
Ruto further elaborated that the Primary Healthcare Fund had received Sh27.4 billion and disbursed Sh23.3 billion, supporting more than 20 million outpatient visits and benefiting over 15 million Kenyans.
He added that nearly 560,000 vulnerable households, covering about 2.2 million people, had been sponsored by the government.
The President said 32.3 million Kenyans had registered with SHA, with eight million receiving treatment, more than 1.2 million mothers supported to deliver safely and over 500,000 surgical procedures financed.
He also highlighted the SHA 922 Lifeline and National Ambulance Dispatch Centre, saying emergency evacuation and the first 24 hours of stabilisation were covered regardless of whether a patient was registered with SHA.
On healthcare financing, he explained that SHA had received more than Sh209 billion since October 2024 and paid over Sh178 billion to contracted facilities across the 47 counties.
He also reported an increase in KEMSA's order fill rate from about 40% to 91%, while noting that the government had recapitalised the authority with Sh1.5 billion and extended a Sh10 billion credit line to strengthen the supply chain.
Ruto acknowledged that challenges remained, including registration, claims processing, digital systems and consistency in the quality of care.
“The ultimate measure of reform is not the laws we pass or the numbers we register, but the experience of the patient in terms of dependable, affordable, and dignified care.”
The two-day summit, held under the theme, "Reforms Delivered, Health as a Right" would provide an opportunity for national and county governments, Parliament, health workers, development partners, civil society and communities to assess the reforms and identify areas requiring improvement.
The Head of State outlined that universal healthcare should ultimately become a national commitment that survives changes in government.
“Universal healthcare must become part of our national covenant; not an achievement of a government, a party, or a President, but of the people and of the Republic.”