President William Ruto has signed significant Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with three leading UK institutions King’s College London, the University of Nottingham, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in a move aimed at transforming Kenya’s health sector.
The agreements, witnessed by President Ruto during his visit to the United Kingdom on Wednesday, will see King’s College London and the University of Nottingham join the Kenya-UK Health Alliance. The institutions will help establish Centres of Health Education and Research Excellence in Kenya, aimed at improving training, research, and healthcare delivery.
Additionally, a separate MoU was signed with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to support local pharmaceutical manufacturing through the BRITE (Bridging Research and Innovation through Technology and Enterprise) initiative at the state-owned BioVax Institute.
Speaking after the signing, Ruto highlighted the progress of Kenya’s Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), stating that the number of Kenyans with health insurance had skyrocketed from seven million to 24 million over the past year. “Every day, on average, 50,000 Kenyans register themselves on our health platform,” he said.
The President announced reforms in health financing aimed at sustainability and fairness, particularly for vulnerable groups. “Health insurance for the vulnerable has been reduced from ten percent to 2.75 percent. For the rest of us, it has increased from 0.1 percent to 2.75 percent of our incomes,” Ruto said, noting this would create a sustainable funding model independent of donor support.
He further emphasized improving the quality of public healthcare by partnering with Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja to acquire hospital equipment without straining the national budget.
Ruto also lauded the deployment of 107,000 Community Health Promoters across the country, with 7,840 in Nairobi alone. “These promoters are trained on the basics of health care and are vital in early disease detection and community wellness,” he said.
The new partnerships mark a milestone in Kenya’s journey toward a robust, locally supported, and equitable healthcare system.
