Somali refugees benefit from Kenya’s national health insurance scheme

(ERGO) – Somali refugees in Kenya’s Dadaab camps are using the Kenyan government’s Social Health Authority (SHA) national health insurance scheme to access treatment they cannot otherwise access or afford.

Iglan Abdulle Mohamed, 39, who lives in Hagadera camp, underwent gallbladder surgery at Garissa General Hospital in February after six years of illness. She had visited several hospitals but could not afford the $1,000 operation.

In January, she registered her family with SHA, paying $55 for the annual cover.

“Twice, hospitals told me I had a gallbladder problem, but I had no money for treatment. I became stressed and worried that if I died, my children would be left without a mother, especially as seven of them were already orphans,” she said.

Iglan raises 10 children alone. They fled conflict in 2016 from Kismayo, where she ran a small restaurant. Before her operation, she was in constant pain.

“I became very thin and lost a lot of weight. Even eating caused me pain. For seven days and seven nights, I could not rest properly, either during the day or at night,” she said.

Her children have received free treatment through SHA 10 times this year, she said, which helps given the struggles of supporting a large family. Aid was cut by half in 2025. Her family receives 30kg of sorghum and maize and 17 litres of cooking oil a month.

SHA has also helped Mohamed Abdullahi Jimale, a refugee born in Dadaab in 1993. In March, his baby was born at Hagadera General Hospital with a lump on his head. Doctors said the condition was life-threatening and could not be treated there.

He could not afford to take his son elsewhere, but SHA enabled the baby to be transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. The child, Majid Mohamed Abdullahi, was 14 days old and underwent successful surgery costing $4,100, covered by the scheme.

“It was a valuable opportunity. Without SHA, my son would not have received the treatment he needed,” Mohamed said. He spent a month in hospital with the baby before returning to Hagadera with him in good health.

Mohamed had registered his four-member family with SHA in March after struggling to find treatment for his son. He earns $88 a month working with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), and said he could not have paid for the operation himself.

His family no longer receives food assistance after being placed in group three under the World Food Programme’s household targeting system. The category includes people working for aid organisations in roles such as cleaning, security, cooking and support services, who were no longer eligible for food aid.

His parents, who were pastoralists, fled conflict in Badhaadhe district in Somalia’s Lower Juba region. He was born and raised, educated, married and became a father in Hagadera camp.

SHA was launched in 2024 to expand access to healthcare and reduce treatment costs. Eligible Kenyan citizens and refugees can register individually or as families, subject to an annual contribution and submitting recognised identification documents.

An SHA programme officer at Alinjuqur private hospital in Hagadera, Hussein Abdihawid, told Radio Ergo that the number of refugees registered with SHA was estimated to excee 50,000.

“SHA is very beneficial, especially for poor people who have nothing. It can help them a great deal,” he said, adding that registered members could access treatment for themselves and their children.

More refugees have enrolled this year, despite difficulties obtaining identification documents and limited awareness of the scheme. Its growing use comes as healthcare services provided by aid-funded hospitals in Dadaab’s camps decline amid funding cuts.