Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling on the government to expand the Social Health Authority (SHA) benefits package to include analogue insulin pens, arguing that the move would improve diabetes care and align Kenya's healthcare system with national and global treatment guidelines.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The appeal comes as the Benefits Package and Tariffs Advisory Panel reviews proposals aimed at strengthening healthcare services under SHA.

According to MSF, including analogue insulin pens in the benefits package would give people living with diabetes access to a treatment option that is easier to use, improves dosing accuracy, and helps patients better manage their blood sugar levels.

The humanitarian organisation said diabetes continues to pose a growing public health challenge, with an estimated 813,300 adults in Kenya living with the condition in 2021. However, it noted that the actual number could be significantly higher, as more than half of diabetes cases in the country are believed to remain undiagnosed.

📌 What You Need to Know

MSF said analogue insulin pens have become the standard of care in many high-income countries due to their convenience and clinical benefits, but remain largely inaccessible in low- and middle-income countries because of affordability and limited availability.

The proposal comes as the Social Health Authority (SHA) faces growing scrutiny over healthcare access and the scope of its benefits package.

Amid ongoing reforms, SHA has also required all contracted healthcare providers to adopt accredited Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) integrated with its central digital platform for the 2026/28 contracting cycle.

Further, in support of its call for analogue insulin pens to be included in the SHA benefits package, the organisation noted that the devices were recently added to both the World Health Organisation's Model List of Essential Medicines and Kenya's Essential Medicines List, as well as the country's National Clinical Guidelines on the Management of Diabetes.

"By introducing analogue insulin pens to its Social Health Authority benefits package, Kenya would be leading the charge towards upending the global double standard in diabetes care and ensuring that people with diabetes have more equitable access to care," said Dr Elizabeth Jarman, Noncommunicable Disease Technical Advisor at MSF Access.

Additionally, MSF warned that nearly 8,000 children receiving analogue insulin pens through the Changing Diabetes in Children programme could lose access to the treatment once they exit the initiative unless the devices are covered under SHA.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke