A meeting convened by the Ministry of Health and the private sector on Friday to brief media on the 1st October 2024 migration from the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) was abruptly cancelled without a clear explanation.
- •Safaricom, Apeiro, Konvergenz, Social Health Authority and top officials from the ministry of health were lined up to address the meeting at a Nairobi Hotel from 7:30am.
- •Four hours after the set 7:30 am start time for the event, representatives from different media houses who honoured the invite were left with no clear explanation on the cancellation raising more questions on last minute decision to cancel the event.
- •During the meeting, a team of experts were expected to take members of the fourth estate through what Kenyans should expect from the beginning of October and how the new system will work.
“We can’t keep on holding you further as some of you might be having other important events to cover, you are free to leave,” the event’s master of ceremony said as he freed journalists.
The last-minute cancellation comes in the backdrop of low recruitment of members to the new fund besides Members of Parliament also questioning KSh 104 billion Healthcare IT system to Safaricom and its partners in the project (Apeiro and Konvergenz).
Parliament’s departmental committee on Health criticised the Safaricom-led consortium health deal, citing questions over single-sourcing, public participation and potential corruption. The committee, led by Robert Pukose (Endebess MP) has summoned Health CS Debra Barasa and her Treasury counterpart John Mbadi, and Attorney General Dorcas Oduor, to clarify on issues among them discrepancies in technical evaluation.
Appearing on one of the local TV stations, Medical Services Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai defended the health records digitization deal led by telco giant Safaricom terming the contract transparent and above board also saying Safaricom has been a long-term partner in other projects with the ministry.
“Safaricom has been with us for a while and we requested them to come up with another proposal to support us in digitizing our healthcare system, they submitted a proposal together with a consortium of members who we evaluated and found out to be fit,” he said.
“The shareholding of Apeiro which is a Dubai based company is available to all, it is a listed company and any one can check its shareholders. As far as we are concerned, we evaluated the documentation based on the submission by Safaricom and we found it to be above board.”
It is not clear whether the inclusion of Safaricom and Apeiro representative into the last-minute cancelled Friday media briefing was also to clear air on the deal.
The Safaricom Consortium
Earlier, in a statement, Safaricom Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Ndegwa announced that the company will partner with Apeiro Limited, a listed Dubai based company, and Konvergenz Network Solutions Limited to implement an Integrated Healthcare Information Technology System (IHTS) over the next 10 years.
One key element is the Health Information Exchange (HIE), which will enable health facilities across the country to share patient records. The project will operate under a model that allows the Ministry of Health to avoid upfront capital and operational expenses, with costs recouped through monthly installments starting in February 2025.
“This project structure allows the Ministry to deploy a comprehensive digital health solution without incurring any upfront capital expenditure (CapEx) or operational expenditure (OpEx),” Ndegwa said.
Transitioning NHIF to SHA is part of government efforts to roll out universal health coverage (UHC), with the SHA managing three funds: the Primary Healthcare Fund, the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), and the Emergency, Chronic, and Critical Illness Fund.
Members will contribute 2.75 per cent of their income to SHIF, while the government will pay for Kenyans who are unable to raise the premium.
According to the Ministry of Health, over 1.5 million people have so far migrated to the Social Health Fund ahead of the October 1st deadline, with about 75, 000 people registering every day. The total number is still marginal compared to the 12 million members currently registered on the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).