Parents asked to enroll learners to SHIF before 3rd term begins.
Before the third term of school starts, the Ministry of Education is advising parents to enroll their school-age children in the new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
Belio Kipsang, the principal secretary for education, declared that students needed to register as their parents’ dependents.
The National Health Insurance Fund will be replaced by SHIF.
The Social Health Insurance Fund registration process for all Kenyans began on July 1, 2024, and it is a crucial step towards achieving our goal of universal health coverage. Therefore, before classes resume for the third term in 2024, all students must register as their parents’ dependents, according to Kipsang.
Online registration via USSD *147# is available at www.sha.go.ke or www.afyangua.go.ke.
Kipsang advised people to contact the Social Health Authority call center at 0800720601 or info@sha.go.ke if they had any difficulties registering.
On October 19, 2023, the Social Health Insurance Act was passed, and on November 22, 2023, it went into effect.
Many students who lost their health coverage as a result of the government’s termination of the Sh4.5 billion EduAfya insurance scheme—which left over 3.4 million students uninsured—are now relieved by this new development.
The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association urged the government to guarantee the program’s continuation following the expiry of the protection for students, which concluded on December 31, 2023.
Timothy Olweny, head of the Social Health Authority, supported the Social Health Act, claiming it will fix the issues with NHIF.
According to him, SHA would assist in carrying out the government’s responsibility to offer reasonably priced primary healthcare and emergency medical services.
According to Olweny, the Act would offer further services that the NHIF did not cover.
Parents asked to enroll learners to SHIF before 3rd term begins.
