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Newly appointed Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has announced a raft of measures aimed at enhancing healthcare system and improving service delivery.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Duale who takes over the docket from his predecessor, Deborah Barasa pledged that the Social Health Authority (SHA) will, moving forward, settle hospital claims by the 14th of each month, ensuring healthcare providers receive timely reimbursements and avoid service interruptions for patients.
Duale further noted that the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and High Dependency Unit (HDU) bed rebates have been enhanced to Kshs. 28,000 per day, while Oncology package for Cancer patients has been enhanced to Kshs. 550,000 per person.
“As earlier pronounced by the President, effective today 1st April, 2025, the ICU & HDU bed rebate has been enhanced to Kshs. 28,000 per day, while Oncology package for Cancer patients has been enhanced to Kshs. 550,000 per person.” CS Duale noted.
Additionally, to address the human resource challenges in the health sector, Duale pledged to fast-track all pending and perennial matters under the Ministry of Health and work with all stakeholders to achieve a long-lasting solution.
The CS underscored the importance of collaborating with stakeholders to develop sustainable solutions.
This even as he decried that the current order fill rate at KEMSA that stands at 43pc saying that the authority is facing stockouts due to lack of finances to replenish Health Products and Technologies.
To tackle the issue, Duale noted that the government will inject Ksh 1.5Billion to KEMSA to be provided through the Supplementary Budget and negotiating for a credit facility of up to Kshs. 5B.
“To ensure KEMSA order fill rate goes up to 90pc. To achieve this, recapitalization of Ksh 1.5Billion to KEMSA to be provided through the Supplementary Budget and negotiating for a credit facility of up to Kshs. 5B to be provided to KEMSA guaranteeing commodity security across the country, promoting Local Manufacturing and leveraging on economies of scale to enable bulk procurement hence reducing high cost of commodities.” He remarked.
CS Duale assured members of the public that all existing system hitches will be addressed adding that the government has launched a 24/7 TaifaCare Call Centre, reachable via the toll-free number 147, to handle all healthcare-related queries efficiently.
Also read https://www.kbc.co.ke/president-ruto-drops-muturi-in-new-cabinet-changes/
