SOCIAL HEALTH AUTHORITY REGISTRATION FOR INMATES LAUNCHED
The State Department for Correctional Services has launched the Social Health Authority registration drive for inmates across the country. Inmates at the Lang’ata Women Prison in Nairobi were the latest to be enlisted as part of ongoing efforts by the government to enhance access to quality healthcare services for offenders.
Correctional Services Principal Secretary Dr. Salome Beacco said the exercise which will be conducted across all prisons and probation centres in line with the President’s clarion call of not leaving anyone behind. “As we officially launch this SHA initiative today, I call upon all of us, government, civil society, and correctional professionals to remain committed to the full realization of health equity in every correctional facility.” Urged Dr. Beacco . Principal Secretary for the State Department for Medical Services Dr. Ouma Oluga said the initiative will help inmates receive timely healthcare, particularly when they fall ill. He highlighted that access to affordable and quality healthcare is a crucial aspect of the bottom-up economic model. Dr. Oluga stressed the importance of registration, noting, “If you have not registered, you are denying yourself a chance to access health services at any facility across the country.”
About 8,000 inmates have so far been registered with SHA out of a national prison population of around 60,000. Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Dr. Belio Kipsang and his Parliamentary Affairs counterpart Dr. Aurelia Rono also jointly committed to supporting the State Department for Correctional Services actualize the vision of having all those behind bars registered with SHA in the spirit of the whole of government approach. Social Health Authority (SHA) was created by the government to reduce financial hardships arising from hospital bills and ease the financial burden for contributors and replaces the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). SHA is currently managing three different funds including the Primary Health Care Fund, Social Health Insurance Fund and the Emergency, Chronic, and Critical Illness Fund.
