The Ministry of Health has issued a gazette notice identifying 36 healthcare services that are currently not available in Kenya. The notice highlights critical gaps in the healthcare system, citing inadequate infrastructure, a shortage of specialised personnel, and the absence of legal or regulatory frameworks for certain procedures.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the list was developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders and follows the Social Health Insurance Regulations.
“Pursuant to the provisions of Regulation 39 (1) (b) and Regulation 49 (1) and (2) of the Social Health Insurance Regulations, 2024, the CS for Health, in consultation with the Social Health Authority and on the recommendation of the Benefits Package and Tariffs Advisory Panel (BPTAP), gives notice to the public of the list of healthcare services not available in Kenya,” the notice read.
Many of the unavailable services involve complex joint and limb replacement surgeries. These include wrist, metacarpal, and ankle joint arthroplasty, whole, proximal, and distal femoral replacements, and proximal tibial replacement.
According to the notice, Kenya lacks dedicated joint replacement centres, advanced implants, mega-prostheses, and sufficient training to perform these procedures. The use of allografts is also not possible because the country does not have a national bone bank.
The gazette also highlighted missing paediatric and transplant services. These include paediatric liver and kidney transplants, bone marrow transplants, and laryngeal transplants. The Ministry said these gaps are due to underdeveloped paediatric nephrology services, the absence of dedicated transplant units, and the lack of a legal framework for some forms of transplantation, such as laryngeal procedures.
Intrauterine and foetal interventions are another major gap. Procedures such as intrauterine blood transfusion, shunt placement for bladder outlet obstruction, vesicocentesis, thoracentesis, paracentesis, fetoscopy, amniotic band ligation, laser ablation, amnioreduction, amnioinfusion, foetal reduction, cord occlusion, and cordocentesis are not available.
“This is because Kenya has no foetal therapy centres, no interventional radiology capacity in maternal-foetal settings and lacks the highly trained specialists and equipment needed to carry out such delicate procedures,” the notice explained.
Advanced cancer diagnostics and treatments are also missing. These include Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (Lutetium-177), DOTA-TATE scans, Fibroblast Activation Protein Inhibitor PET/CT imaging, microwave ablation of metastatic tumours, Yttrium-90 radioembolization, and Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy.
The notice cited the absence of licensed radiopharmaceutical handling units, specialist nuclear medicine infrastructure, and regulatory pathways for cutting-edge immunotherapies.
Specialised neurological and regenerative treatments are also unavailable.
These include sacral neuromodulation for urinary and faecal incontinence, surgical management of birth-related brachial plexus injuries, photopheresis, nerve ablation therapy, neural regenerative therapy, and proton therapy. According to the notice, this is due to a lack of neurophysiology equipment, trained personnel, and the high costs of advanced technologies such as proton beam facilities.
