16-Member Panel To Advise Aden Duale & Mercy Mwangangi
Professor Walter G. Jaoko will chair the panel, while Health Director General Patrick Amoth has also been appointed as a member.
Viral Tea Ke Writer 
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has named a 16-member advisory panel to guide him and the newly-appointed CEO of the Social Health Authority (SHA), Mercy Mwangangi on implementing the new national insurance plan.
According to a special gazette notice issued Wednesday, Professor Walter G. Jaoko will chair the panel, while Health Director General Patrick Amoth has also been appointed as a member.
''In exercise of the powers conferred by Regulations 41 (2) and 43 (1) of the Social Health Insurance Regulations, 2024, the Cabinet Secretary for Health establishes the Benefits Package and Tariffs Advisory Panel to advise the Cabinet Secretary and the Social Health Authority on the benefits packages under Regulation 40 (1) of the Social Health Insurance Regulations, 2024,'' the statement read in part.
A photo of the Social Health Authority (SHA) headquarters in Nairobi. /NTV
Other members of the panel include Nehemiah Odera, Margaret Macharia, Hajara El Busaidy, Robert Rapando, Gabriel Muswali, Mary Kigasia Amuyunzu-Nyamongo, and Walter Oyamo Obita.
Valeria Makory, Stephen Kaboro, Francis Motiri, Christine Wambugu, Tabitha Okech, Patricia Nyokabi, and Abdiaziz Abdikadir Ahmed were also named.
The all-doctor panel will serve a three-year term. Duale’s appointments come amid growing public scepticism about the feasibility of the SHA, and follow his recent pledge to dismantle entrenched cartels within the Health Ministry that are stalling progress.
“I will face the cartels head-on because I have blessings from the president,” Duale asserted.
At the same time, Duale set up a special committee to probe the ongoing organ transplant scandal in the country.
He appointed 16 members to spearhead the investigation into Mediheal Hospital, which has come under scrutiny after an exposé revealed claims of illegal organ transplants at the facility.
''It is notified for general information of the public that the Cabinet Secretary for Health has constituted a committee to be known as the Independent Investigative Committee on Tissue and Organ Transplant Services (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”)'', read part of the statement by Duale.
The committee will be chaired by Professor Elizabeth Bukusi and will operate for the next three months. Its primary responsibilities include investigating the cases, auditing the hospital, and conducting interviews with renal transplant surgeons, nephrologists, anaesthetists, administrators, and both donors and recipients.
The committee will also assess the current policies and review the legal and regulatory framework overseeing tissue and organ transplant services in the country, ultimately submitting a detailed report to the Cabinet Secretary.
