Health Ministry pushes for Sh2bn to support maternal health programme
ERASTUS GICHOHI-KNA
The Ministry of Health is seeking Sh2 billion from the National Treasury to finance the nationwide rollout of an enhanced maternity package targeting low-income mothers.
Speaking in Naivasha during an engagement with Senators, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Aden Duale, said that while Kenya has made notable progress in reducing maternal mortality, significant disparities persist, particularly in underserved communities and Arid and SemiArid Lands (ASAL) counties.
The country’s maternal mortality ratio has declined over the past decade, reflecting expanded facility-based deliveries, improved skilled birth attendance, and broader reproductive health interventions.
However, the burden remains uneven and according to the Ministry, 26 counties continued to record a disproportionately high number of maternal deaths, largely driven by poverty, long distances to health facilities, inadequate emergency obstetric care, teenage pregnancies and health workforce shortages.
Duale said the proposed funding would help close financing gaps in maternal services, improve referral systems and ensure that vulnerable women are not denied care due to cost barriers.
Under the free maternity package, the CS said the government has so far enabled more than 50,000 teenage mothers to access free maternity services in public health facilities across the country.
Duale noted that Kenya has registered over 29 million citizens under the Social Health Authority (SHA), through a coordinated effort to ensure Kenya s from all walks of life have access to affordable healthcare.
“Less than five million out of the 29.7 million registered members are making consistent contributions,” he said, adding that this places strain on the Sh142.8 billion collected over the past three years.
The CS said SHA has so far disbursed Sh105 billion to healthcare facilities for services rendered, recording a 73 per cent claims settlement rate.
He said the Ministry is also seeking an additional Sh5.9 billion to offset pending bills owed to healthcare facilities for services delivered between October and January this financial year.
In addition, Duale urged Senators to support the bridging of a Sh11.9 billion deficit currently affecting the Primary Health Care package which he said enhance services to Kenyans across local facilities to referral hospitals.
Responding to allegations that more than Sh11 billion had been lost at SHA, Duale dismissed the claims, clarifying that the figure relates to rejected claims flagged as fraudulent, fake or undocumented.
He said private facilities accounted for the largest share of irregular claims amounting to Sh7.4 billion, followed by county facilities (Sh2.6 billion), faithbased institutions (Sh1.4 billion) and National Referral hospitals at Sh1.1 billion.
To curb fraud, Duale said SHA has deployed Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data-driven fraud detection systems capable of identifying impersonation, document fabrication and suspicious billing patterns.
He said so far, 1,118 case files involving officers and facilities suspected of fraud have been forwarded to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for investigation with SHA former executives facing court proceedings.
In addition, the CS said Sh305 million has been recovered through surcharges imposed on implicated facilities, while Sh3.2 million has been recovered through alternative dispute resolution processes in collaboration with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
On SHA registration performance, Duale commended Mombasa, Kisumu, Kiambu, Nakuru, Nairobi, Kirinyaga and Embu counties as top performers, while Nyamira, Samburu, Garissa, Marsabit and Turkana were flagged for lagging behind.