Every fortnight, Mary Wairimu makes the same journey to her neighbourhood clinic: a blood sugar test, a short consultation, and a refill of the medication that keeps her type 2 diabetes in check. Each visit is routine. Together, over a year, they add up to a significant sum.
Non-communicable diseases — diabetes, hypertension, asthma and others — now account for a growing share of Kenya's disease burden. Unlike a one-off illness, they require continuous, lifelong management, and the costs are relentless rather than dramatic.
"The problem with chronic conditions is that they don't announce themselves with a big hospital bill," explains Dr. Samuel Kariuki, an endocrinologist. "It is the consultations, the regular tests, the medicine month after month. Patients often skip visits to save money — and that is when things go wrong."
Outpatient cover, which pays for unlimited clinic visits and routine care, is designed precisely for this rhythm of small, repeated costs. For people managing a long-term condition, predictable monthly outlay can be the difference between staying on top of treatment and falling behind.
Mary has learned to budget carefully. "As long as I can see the doctor and get my medicine, I am fine," she says. "It is when I have to choose between the clinic and something else at home that I worry."
