Kisumu Assembly wants the public to contribute to SHA to ease health burden

The County Assembly of Kisumu now wants everyone to contribute to the Social Health Authority (SHA) fund in order to enable it fully fund reproductive health services effectively.

Seth Okumu, Member of County Assembly for East Seme, and a member of the health committee has said that its budgetary allocations have been hard hit by donor withdrawal in funding some aspects of the health sector.

However, he said the issue has been taken over by the relevant Sectorial committee for discussion on the way forward. A number of sectorial committees are at the moment scrutinizing budget proposals for all departments.

Okumu said USAID and other partners used to fund a huge chunk of the health sector across counties including reproductive health services which he noted have since been frozen by the administration of President Donald Trump of the United States.

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The MCA added that every woman has a right to access to affordable if not free family planning commodities.

The County Assembly of Kisumu has already hinted that it will incorporate reproductive health services in its supplementary budget.

It has since emerged that vulnerable women cannot afford family planning commodities such as the IUCD and Norplant at government facilities across Kisumu County.

This is according to Community Empowerment and Media Initiative (CEMI-K), a community based organization which is advocating and sensitizing women on the importance of contraception.

CEMI-K chairperson Selfina Atieno called on county governments to factor in maternal health care, adding that many women cannot afford postnatal and antenatal services since they are very expensive.

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Bernard Okebe, the Executive Director of CEMI said that there is a gap in the Kisumu County’s budget estimates for the year 2025/2026 on the levies charged on the reproductive health commodities, especially the Intrauterine Devices (IUCDs) and the Norplant.

He urged members of the Kisumu County Assembly to consider amending or better still, remove the levies from the document all together to enable access.

“During our sensitization meetings with the community, across Kisumu County, we have encountered a large number of women who say they cannot afford the commodities whose charges vary from one facility to the other,” he explains.

By Fredrick Odiero

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