NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 22 – The Social Health Authority (SHA) will no longer reimburse county and sub-county referral hospitals for the drug component of treatment where patients fail to receive prescribed medicines, in a move aimed at sealing loopholes in the public health system.Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the decision follows findings from the government’s Digital Health Superhighway, which flagged widespread inconsistencies in Level 4 and 5 hospitals across several counties.According to the ministry, patients are undergoing full treatment including consultations, laboratory tests and even surgery but are not being issued medication at facility pharmacies.Appearing before the Senate on Wednesday, Duale attributed the trend to the proliferation of private pharmacies around public hospitals, where patients are often forced to purchase drugs out of pocket.“What we have done is that if a patient goes through the system and does not receive medicine, SHA will pay for all other services except the drugs,” he told senators.He cited Kakamega’s provincial referral hospital as a case in point, where more than 52,000 patients reportedly went through the system without receiving medication. Similar patterns, he said, have been observed in Nairobi and Bomet counties.The Digital Health Superhighway a government initiative designed to integrate patients, providers and insurers into a unified digital ecosystem has enabled real-time tracking of service delivery across both public and private health facilities.Duale said the new directive will see SHA decline reimbursement for the drug component in such cases, while still settling other aspects of care.The policy shift is also intended to push facilities to source medicines from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa), whose capacity and stock availability, the CS said, have significantly improved. Kemsa’s current order fill rate stands at 92 per cent, with a target of full capacity by the end of the year.The ministry is in talks with county governments to streamline procurement through Kemsa following reforms to its governance and increased capitalisation.Duale further noted that digitisation efforts have begun to curb fraud within the health system, leading to the closure of more than 1,200 facilities implicated in malpractice. In addition, 22 doctors and 40 clinicians have been barred from practice over related violations.The government has also set aside Sh4 billion to begin settling verified claims inherited from the defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), particularly those below Sh10 million, in a bid to restore confidence among healthcare providers during the transition to SHA.According to the CS, the authority has so far achieved a 74 per cent claims settlement rate, supported by a strict 90-day payment timeline across all levels of care.Beyond financing reforms, the ministry is stepping up public health interventions, including enhanced tobacco control measures backed by the Solatium Compensatory Contribution, and implementation of the Kenya Climate Change and Health Strategy (2024–2029) to strengthen resilience against climate-related health risks.In cancer care, Duale said the government plans to expand treatment capacity, including the installation of an additional linear accelerator at Kenyatta National Hospital and the establishment of regional cancer centres in Kisii, Nyeri, Meru and Kisumu to decentralise services and improve access.