Turkana County has launched a one-week Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) to increase registration numbers to the Social Health Authority (SHA). The exercise targets to net at least 100,000 people registered by the end of the campaign.
As part of efforts to boost uptake of the initiative, Deputy Governor Dr. John Erus, who led the launch announced that the registration is free across the county during the period.
“SHA is a well thought out government initiative. It helps to ensure inclusive access to healthcare. As a county, we are making it easier for our people to register by removing all cost barriers and paying up the first instalment,” DG Erus said.
The RRI, operating under the theme Accelerating SHA uptake through community led rapid results, will be conducted across the 256 community village units of Turkana in all sub-counties by engaging all the 2,600 Community Health Promoters (CHPs), 127 village admins, and ward admins, chiefs and their assistants.
The County Executive Committee Member of Health and Sanitation Dr. Epem Joseph Esekon reiterated that Turkana misses out on Primary Health Care (PHC) financing model based on the actual number of patients served in facilities due to low registrations.
“This exercise serves to ensure social protection, increase primary healthcare share in Turkana, and ensure sustainable healthcare financing strategy,” he stated.
Erus also assured the public that the Governor is fully supportive of the campaign. “His Excellency the Governor has publicly declared that health is one of the priority agendas. By registering, we will together meet the goal of a healthy and productive population,”
Chief Officer for Preventive and Promotive services Janerose Tioko shared that currently only 164,556 people out of the total population of 926,976 people in Turkana have been registered.
“I am calling on residents to take advantage of this accelerated initiative to enrol on SHA towards protecting themselves and their families. Out of the 301 health facilities, 218 have been registered, this means our residents can access SHA services from wherever they are saving costs,”
The CECM announced that all registered individuals will upon registration enjoy free services from dispensaries and health centers, namely level two and three facilities.
Erus added that, “This will ensure protection of residents against hazards likely to have a direct impact on mortality,”
According to Director of Community Health Services, Joseph Lolepo this intervention is geared towards not only mobilizing residents but also educating the public about the relevance of SHA.
“We are aware that some residents may not understand what SHA is and why it matters, today we are spreading the message that when you register with SHA, it saves you money as you can get medical treatment in hospitals without paying all the money yourself,”
According to Epem, this ongoing exercise has also roped in chairpersons of organized societies within the county to rally their members in registering. These member groups include the transport, Sale Yard, clothes and textiles, Boda Boda, Handicraft, fish market, and loaders among others.
“We are using all possible methods and strategies to register as many people as possible. This includes engaging various groups through their chairpersons to ensure that no one is left behind,” said CECM Epem.
During the launch, Christine Asiyapat, a resident shared a moving testimony on how SHA recently saved their family hundreds of thousands in hospital bills for her child’s treatment and referral. “This child was in intensive care unit for a week, after two weeks in hospital and a week of scan imaging. Were it not SHA, we would need to pay over Kshs 400,000”.
Moved by the testimony, Erus pledged to top up the pending bill, announcing that the gesture was to encourage all eligible persons to take advantage of the RRI and register.
The overall goal over the next year is to onboard 1.5 million newly registered residents to SHA. This RRI exercise is meant to accelerate that process towards protecting the most vulnerable residents such as Asiyapat against out-of-pocket payments.
Swaleh Ekutan, one of the CHPs, said that team members have been trained and sensitized accordingly to carry out the registration exercise. He expressed optimism that the set target would be met and possibly exceeded as CHPs were ready to go beyond the daily registration target of 100 people.
Erus highlighted that Turkana is a unique population with most eligible members without national identity cards and mobile phones which are a requirement.
“We are appealing to the national government for adjustments to be made in order to accommodate such unique populations, and even allowing the CHPs to register them using their mobile phones”.
