Kenya, UK hold talks to strengthen Universal Health Coverage
By Joel Masibo, December 8, 2025Kenya has taken a step toward advancing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) following a bilateral meeting between Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale and a delegation from the United Kingdom, led by Dr Ed Barnett, the UK Chargé d’Affaires to Kenya.
The talks, held in Nairobi on Monday, December 8, 2025, focused on strengthening shared health priorities, accelerating health reforms, and expanding long-term collaboration across innovation, manufacturing, surveillance and digital health systems. This comes shortly after Kenya and the United States of America government sealed another pact to improve healthcare in the country.
Kenya-UK health talks
”We identified priority areas for targeted technical support, including Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliance, technology transfer, quality assurance and digital product-authentication systems to expand Kenya’s local manufacturing capacity. This aligns with our goal of establishing county-level manufacturing hubs and positioning Kenyan innovations within regional and global value chains as we work towards achieving the World Health Organization (WHO) Maturity Level 3 (ML3),” Duale said via X.
CS Duale also briefed the delegation on ongoing reforms under the Social Health Authority (SHA) and leveraging on the UK’s strong track record in National Health Service (NHS) digital governance. ”We also emphasised the need to grow a vibrant research and innovation ecosystem through the UK–Kenya Health Global Innovation Network, focusing on artificial-intelligence-enabled diagnostics, early-screening technologies, and commercialisation of home-grown innovations,” Duale’s statement continued.
Strengthening health sector
According to Aden Duale, the meeting reaffirmed the central role of research, technology and innovation within the Kenya–UK Health Alliance, which continues to strengthen oncology services, molecular diagnostics, palliative care, clinical research, cancer-centre partnerships, virtual tumour boards and UK-based oncology fellowships.
While accompanied by Principal Secretary for Public Health and Professional Standards, Mary Muthoni, NPHI Director General Dr Maureen Kamene, Family Health Directorate Dr Joel Gondi, among other Ministry Officials, Aden Duale acknowledged the recently recently signed Health and Data Sharing Cooperation Framework with the United States, witnessed by President William Samoei Ruto in Washington D.C.
At the same time, the Health CS also recognised the upcoming World Health Summit Africa, which Kenya will host in April 2026 under the theme, ‘Reimagining Africa’s Health Systems: Innovation, Integration, and Interdependence.’