The Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations (KENCO) has appealed to the National Assembly to take urgent action to address persistent challenges facing cancer patients under the Social Health Authority (SHA), citing reduced benefits, underfunding, and lack of transparency in the management of health funds.
In a petition tabled before the House on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, by Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss, the organisation, which brings together more than 70 civil society groups and thousands of cancer patients, urged lawmakers to strengthen oncology benefits and increase allocations to the Primary Healthcare Fund as well as the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund.
KENCO said cancer patients continue to face numerous barriers within the SHA system, including delays in accessing treatment, insufficient coverage, and limited support for chronic conditions.
“The Organisation is seeking to highlight systemic failures experienced through the Social Health Authority (SHA), and to call for urgent reforms in cancer care financing. Various challenges have been encountered by cancer patients through SHA in the following ways: reduced and inadequate cancer benefit packages, bureaucratic delays and system failures, poor communication and lack of transparency, service suspensions due to pending bills, overseas treatment policy changes, underfunding of SHA funds and emotional and mental strain,” reads the petition.
The organisation decried the decision to slash the cancer benefit package from Sh600,000 per individual under the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to Sh400,000 per household under SHA, terming it a major blow to patients and families battling the disease.
It further raised alarm over frequent interruptions of cancer treatment services resulting from unpaid bills, as well as policy shifts that have limited access to overseas medical care.
The petition warned that if reforms are not implemented urgently, many Kenyans living with cancer will continue to face prolonged delays, unbearable treatment costs, and preventable deaths.
KENCO called for a comprehensive and independent audit of SHA funds and a review of existing benefit structures to ensure fairness, transparency, and sustainability in the financing of cancer care.
It also urged Parliament to push for reforms that guarantee equal access to healthcare for all patients, especially those battling chronic illnesses.
Deputy Speaker Boss, while forwarding the petition to the Departmental Committee on Health, noted that the committee is already investigating similar complaints from patients and other health stakeholders.
The committee will now examine the issues raised and make recommendations to address the gaps in health financing and service delivery.