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The Ministry of Health has introduced a new plan to guarantee free primary healthcare services, with facilities required to clearly identify government-funded care through a Green Label Charter, Health CS Aden Duale has announced.
The charter will be prominently displayed in all Level 2 and Level 3 public health facilities, as well as selected Level 4 hospitals, to ensure patients are not charged for services that are fully covered by the government.
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Duale said the move is intended to completely eliminate co-payments under primary healthcare, which is funded through a capitation system.
“To stop co-paying entirely, we are rolling out a green label charter in every Level 2, Level 3 and some Level 4 facilities,” he said.
The charter will bear the message ‘walk in, walk out’ and clearly outline all services that must be offered at no cost, including consultations, laboratory and diagnostic services, vaccinations, immunisation, HIV services and essential medicines.
Under the new system, patients will also receive a follow-up SMS after visiting a health facility to confirm whether they accessed all the services they were entitled to.
The message will prompt patients to verify if they received outpatient consultation, diagnosis and treatment for common illnesses, basic laboratory tests and essential medicines, or if they were formally referred for more specialised care.
According to Duale, this approach empowers patients to question any gaps in service delivery.
“Previously, many Kenyans did not know what they were entitled to. Now they will know they deserve essential medicine and can return to the facility to ask why it was not provided,” he said.
The CS added that enforcement will be strengthened through the Digital Health Agency (DHA), which now monitors patient treatment and medicine distribution in real time via the Afya Yangu system.
The platform allows the ministry to track each patient’s care, including reimbursements, and identify cases where services are provided but medicines are not issued.
Duale revealed troubling trends from county data.
“In Kakamega, 52,000 patients passed through the referral hospital, but only 9,000 received medicine. In Bomet, nearly 34,000 patients were treated, yet only 4,600 got drugs,” he said.
The ministry has also uncovered suspected collusion between some public health workers and private pharmacies located near government hospitals.
“Either drugs are being diverted or there is collusion between hospital staff and private chemists,” Duale said.
Going forward, facilities that fail to dispense prescribed medicines will face financial sanctions.
“If a patient does not receive medicine after going through the system, SHA will not reimburse the medicine component,” he said, noting that the digital system makes such gaps easy to detect.
Duale said the reforms are designed to dismantle drug diversion networks and promote transparency, accountability and patient protection within public healthcare.
