Narok family in distress as SHA fails to cover costs for son's sickle cell treatment

The family has lamented that the new Social Health Authority has failed to step in to help meet medical costs, despite the authority being touted as a solution to universal health coverage.

Vincent and Irene Chacha said they have been pushed to dire financial straits to cater for the medical needs of their nine-year-old son Morris’s needs.

“Our son is in constant pain and his mother has had to leave work to care for him,” said Vincent, a boda boda rider.

Irene said, "We only discovered what our son was ailing from is sickle cell anaemia last year. We had been in and out of hospital for years without getting to the root of what the issue was."

Dr John Gicuke, a haematologist, said the disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen through the body.

 The Kenyan government's ambitious Kshs 104.8 billion Social Health Authority (SHA) has faced intense scrutiny after Auditor General Nancy Gathungu revealed that, despite massive public investment, the state neither owns nor controls the system.