Health CS Aden Duale / HANDOUTHealth Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has made an energetic start — cracking down on SHA fraud, deploying over 6,400 healthcare interns, and pushing forward the rollout of the Social Health Authority (SHA).
These decisive actions have boosted confidence in the Ministry and shown a commitment to integrity, service delivery, and universal health coverage.
However, one crucial pillar remains neglected — the Public Health Division.
For years, under successive Cabinet Secretaries, this division has been overlooked, underfunded, and treated as an afterthought. Yet it is the backbone of disease prevention, outbreak control, health promotion, environmental health, and the national–county coordination that underpins a healthy population.
Without it, Kenya risks pouring resources into treatment while leaving preventable illnesses unchecked.
A stark example of this weakness was seen during the recent mpox outbreak.
Despite early warnings from global health authorities and clear evidence of community spread in neighboring countries, Kenya’s public health surveillance systems were slow to detect, trace, and contain cases.
Preventive communication to the public was minimal, leaving room for stigma and misinformation. By the time a response was mobilized, preventable transmissions had already occurred — exposing gaps in outbreak preparedness and coordination between national and county health teams.
This was not a failure of curative medicine, but of preventive systems that should have been the first line of defense.
Duale’s current reforms are necessary, but their impact will be short-lived unless matched by a strong public health agenda.
Rebuilding the Division requires:
A rapid audit to identify staffing, budget, and surveillance gaps.
Strengthened community health systems and disease monitoring.
Integration of SHA financing with preventive services, not just curative care.
Clear national–county outbreak response protocols.
Kenya’s health system cannot afford to focus only on hospital beds and financing reforms while ignoring prevention. The Public Health Division must be restored to its rightful place at the heart of national health policy.
If Aden Duale succeeds where his predecessors fell short, he will not only protect SHA’s sustainability but also secure a healthier future for all Kenyans.
The writer is a public health specialist.