Summit Opens with Focus on Digital Transformation and Health Coverage
President William Ruto opened the two-day Kenya Health Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, where he was taken through KEMSA's digital transformation programme at its exhibition stand. The authority demonstrated how digital systems are being used to improve efficiency, accountability, and visibility across the health supply chain, alongside doorstep delivery of essential commodities to health facilities. KEMSA said its order fill rate currently stands at 90 per cent, up from 40 per cent three years ago, ensuring health facilities receive essential medicines and supplies. The authority also highlighted its Paperless KEMSA system, designed to streamline operations and strengthen accountability. Under its last-mile delivery model, KEMSA is taking essential health commodities directly to health facilities, including those serving hard-to-reach communities.
Ruto said the Government's extensive health reforms over the past three years had begun to deliver measurable results. He reported that 32.3 million Kenyans had registered with the Social Health Authority (SHA), compared with eight million under the defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). SHA had treated more than eight million people over the past two years, while more than KSh209 billion had been received and over KSh178 billion paid to contracted health facilities across all 47 counties since October 2024.
Primary Healthcare and Equipment Expansion
Ruto said the reforms had expanded access to primary healthcare, with 107,800 Community Health Promoters reaching more than nine million households and helping identify health risks early. "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," he said. Through the Primary Health Care Fund, the Government has disbursed KSh23.3 billion to support more than 20 million outpatient visits, benefiting over 15 million Kenyans. KSh17 billion supported maternal healthcare, including deliveries.
Ruto also highlighted that the Government facilitated more than 500,000 surgeries under SHA, and more than 50,000 cancer patients were treated, compared with 7,000 under NHIF. The number of health facilities covered by SHA has risen to more than 10,700. Under the National Equipment Services Programme, 850 modern medical equipment units worth KSh9.7 billion have been delivered to hospitals in 44 counties, including digital X-ray, dialysis and MRI machines, CT scanners, and ultrasound equipment.
Ruto described the health reforms as one of the most consequential social transformations in Kenya's history and urged Kenyans to safeguard the gains from disruption. "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," he said. The summit's theme was "Reform Delivered; Health as a Right."
Deputy President Calls for Measurable Results
Speaking on the second day of the summit, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki challenged national and county governments to shift the focus of health reforms from policy announcements and massive investments to measurable results for patients. He said the success of the Government's health agenda would ultimately be judged not by the amount of money allocated, equipment purchased, or programmes launched, but by whether Kenyans could access quality care when they needed it. "The health system performance is not just the total sum of individual programmes; it is the reliability of the complete patient journey," he said.
Kindiki identified healthcare workers, medical equipment and commodities, and timely service delivery as the three critical components required to make the reforms work. He warned that failure in any one of the areas would immediately affect patients. "A trained healthcare worker without medicine cannot treat. Modern equipment without personnel or maintenance cannot provide health services. Financing cannot improve health if the facility is not ready to deliver care," he said.
He said the Government would begin placing greater emphasis on performance indicators, including medicine availability, equipment functionality, waiting times, early diagnosis, successful referrals, and maternal and child health outcomes. He said the Primary Healthcare Fund had received Sh27 billion and disbursed Sh23 billion to more than 9,300 Level Two and Level Three facilities. The fund had supported more than 20 million outpatient visits by 15 million Kenyans, while 278 Primary Care Networks had been established across the country.
Workforce and Supply Chain Priorities
Kindiki emphasized that the SHA 9-2-2 emergency lifeline should be dependable across all counties. He noted that 24,000 healthcare interns had been deployed across the 47 counties since 2022, and 262 medical registrars had been sponsored for specialised training. The Government had also committed to recruiting an additional 5,000 nurses and midwives.
On the supply chain, Kindiki said KEMSA's order fill rate had improved from 40 per cent to 91 per cent, following government support of Sh1.5 billion and a Sh10 billion credit line. He called for integration of KEMSA's digital systems with the Digital Health Agency's medical data, and urged investment in local manufacturing of medicines, diagnostic devices, and other medical products.
Perspectives
President William Ruto: Emphasized the achievements of the health reforms, highlighting increased registration under SHA, expanded primary healthcare reach, and improved medical equipment distribution, describing the reforms as a consequential social transformation.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki: Stressed the need to move from policy pronouncements to measurable outcomes, focusing on patient access to quality care, and called for attention to healthcare workers, equipment, and timely service delivery as critical components.