The National Assembly’s Public Petition Committee this morning met  Ms. Joyce Cherono, a nurse at Kenyatta Hospital, over her petition on the Edu-Afya Medical Scheme. The Scheme which was to be implemented by NHIF was intended to benefit millions of students in the country.

In her submission, Ms. Cherono informed the Committee that the medical scheme,  which was designed to provide necessary outpatient medical care in the country including; road and air evacuation, dental, optical, group personal accident, and group life coverage for students, is not being effectively utilized. She attributed this to several factors including; a lack of public awareness on the scheme, health providers' lack of confidence in it, difficulties in obtaining National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) for students, and a failure to engage relevant stakeholders in the implementation process.

“To ensure students have good health and relieve parents of the pressure, the parties need to be informed of the medical scheme as money is being released to the project but it is not being utilized,” said Ms. Cherono

The Edu-Afya Scheme which was rolled out by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018 seeks to cover students in public secondary schools. In the Scheme, the Government pays a premium of Ksh1,350 per student per year.

The Petitioner called on the Committee to establish a collaborative working relationship with the Ministries of Health and Education, NHIF, Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESHA), and Parents' Associations. The objective of this partnership would be to enhance public awareness of the Medical Scheme and to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of the project for the benefit of students.

Ms. Cherono added that, since its inception, more than 800,000 students have not received any benefits from the Kshs 4 Billion medical insurance coverage.

The petitioner appealed to the Committee to see this project through as it would really benefit students across the country.