IN SHORT: A free healthcare plan for expectant moms and infants in Kenya is still operational, despite claims on social media.
A number of posts shared on Facebook claim that the publicly funded free maternity programme in Kenya, Linda Mama, has been scrapped.
The programme is administered through the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and aims to ensure that pregnant women and infants have access to “quality and affordable health services”.
The claim that it has been canned could be believed by some, as Kenya’s new government stopped another social welfare programme, Kazi Mtaani, in late October 2022.
Similar claims about the Linda Mama scheme have been shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
But has the programme been abolished?
Linda Mama program still operational – NHIF
On 9 December the NHIF confirmed on its official Twitter page that the Linda Mama programme was still operational.
Africa Check contacted the health insurance fund and they told us the programme was still operational for mothers with no insurance cover, as intended at its launch.
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