NAIROBI, Kenya- Chaos erupted at Afya House on Wednesday when frustrated patients, some with infants, interrupted a Ministry of Health press briefing to protest ongoing glitches in the newly implemented Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) system.
The disruption highlighted growing dissatisfaction with the system transition that has left many Kenyans stranded without access to essential healthcare.
The briefing, led by Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa and Director General Patrick Amoth, was initially intended to provide updates on the progress of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
However, tensions boiled over as patients—many claiming they had walked from Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) to Afya House—demanded answers about unresolved system failures.
“We have walked all the way from Kenyatta Hospital to the SHIF offices, but nothing has been done to help us,” said one of the protestors, visibly upset.
Patients from KNH storm Health CS Deborah Barasa’s media briefing at Afya House protesting the failure of SHA system
Among the group was a mother of a newborn, unable to leave KNH due to unresolved billing issues caused by the system outage. “This system is failing us,” she declared, her distress echoing through the room.
The SHIF system, which replaced the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in October 2024, was designed to streamline healthcare access.
Yet reports of stranded patients at KNH and other hospitals have painted a starkly different picture, leaving many questioning the program’s readiness.
Director General Amoth attempted to address the concerns by citing progress: over 7,900 facilities have signed manual contracts with SHIF, while 2,602 have transitioned to e-contracting. Yet, these statistics offered little solace to the patients facing real-time hardships.
Amoth admitted that delays in reimbursements and incomplete institutional details were hindering service delivery, urging health facilities to expedite their transitions to ensure smoother operations.
Despite these assurances, the palpable frustration of stranded patients overshadowed the ministry’s claims of progress.
This isn’t the first time SHIF has faced public scrutiny. In December 2024, CS Barasa was grilled by Members of Parliament over the chaos surrounding its rollout.
Acknowledging the “teething problems,” Barasa defended the program, arguing that it holds the potential to revolutionize healthcare access in Kenya.
“There are many patients forced to return home untreated because they cannot afford care,” she stated, emphasizing the scheme’s role in achieving affordable and quality healthcare for all.
She called on lawmakers to support public education campaigns, positioning SHIF as the cornerstone of Kenya’s health sector reform.
Still, the persistence of such “teething issues” has raised doubts about SHIF’s ability to deliver on its promises.
For patients like the KNH mother and her three-day-old baby, these system failures are not just bureaucratic hiccups—they are life-altering crises.
While the government has touted SHIF as a “magic wand” for the health sector, its effectiveness remains under scrutiny.
