The much-publicised Universal Health Coverage (UHC) may remain a pipe dream unless urgent reforms are implemented, health experts have warned.
The Social Health Authority (SHA), tasked with financing UHC, has only collected Sh45 billion between October 2024 and July 2025, averaging Sh4.5 billion per month, far below the Sh54 billion annual target for 2024/25.
Despite registering over 23 million Kenyans, only 4.4 million are active contributors, giving SHA a contribution density of just 19 per cent.
This is significantly lower than that of the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), which collected Sh74 billion in 2021/22, Sh76 billion in 2022/23, and Sh66 billion in 2023/24.
