Siaya, Kenya – A majority of Siaya residents are missing out on affordable healthcare services due to low registration with the Social Health Authority (SHA), county officials have warned.
According to County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Health, Dr. Martin Konyango, non-registration not only locks residents out of subsidized medical care but also denies government health facilities vital resources.
“Every registered person in SHA reflects in the national database, and this is the information used to tabulate capitation for facilities,” Dr. Konyango explained. “Currently, the government through SHA releases KSh 75 per patient per month for every individual captured in the system.”
Before the rollout of SHA, dispensaries offered basic services for free, with additional support from DANIDA, which provided KSh 50,000 every six months. Dr. Konyango noted that under the new system, funding has shifted to patient-based allocations, meaning higher registration directly translates to more resources for local hospitals.
He further highlighted that Level IV hospitals continue to charge patients higher fees compared to dispensaries, but with increased SHA funding, such facilities can expand services and reduce costs.
“The higher the SHA payment for each patient, the more elaborate the care that can be offered,” he said.
Despite its benefits, registration uptake remains low. Since the exercise began in October 2024, only 400,000 people out of Siaya’s 1 million residents have enrolled. This places Siaya at position 29 out of 47 counties nationwide in terms of SHA registration.
A major obstacle, Dr. Konyango revealed, is the lack of national identification cards, which are mandatory for registration.
“We have a big lot who lack IDs and are therefore not able to register for SHA,” he regretted.
His sentiments were echoed by Benter Jacobs, who pointed out that many teenage mothers face exclusion from the program as they lack identification documents to facilitate registration.
Dr. Konyango made the remarks during a forum on the ECD re-entry program, where he was accompanied by County Executive for Lands Maurice M.C. Orege, Governance Chief Officer Walter Okello, Gender and Training Chief Officer Judy Oyug, and Director of Culture Ken Oreyo.
County officials now warn that unless registration improves, health facilities in Siaya risk missing out on much-needed resources, and residents will continue to shoulder high medical costs.
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