Flaws in Kenya’s AI-driven health reforms driving up costs for the poorest

Mothers waiting at Kuoyo sub-county hospital in Kisumu, Kenya. The new ‘AI-powered’ healthcare system appears to penalise the poorest. Photograph: Michel Lunanga/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Mothers waiting at Kuoyo sub-county hospital in Kisumu, Kenya. The new ‘AI-powered’ healthcare system appears to penalise the poorest. Photograph: Michel Lunanga/Getty Images Flaws in Kenya’s AI-driven health reforms driving up costs for the poorestExclusive: amid unrest, President William Ruto promised to give all Kenyans access to healthcare. But the algorithm favours the rich, an investigation has found An AI system used to predict how much Kenyans can afford to pay for access to healthcare, has systemically driven up costs for the poor, an investigation has found. The healthcare system being rolled out across the country, a key electoral promise of President William Ruto, was launched in October 2024 and intended to replace Kenya’s decades-old national insurance system. Billed as “accelerating digital transformation”, it aimed to expand access to care to Kenya’s large informal economy: the day labourers, hawkers, farmers and non-salaried workers that make up 83% of its workforce. View image in fullscreen ‘No Kenyan will be left behind,’ William Ruto, Kenya’s president, said during the 2023 election. Photograph: AFP/Getty“No Kenyan will be left behind,” Ruto told a crowded stadium in Kericho during his 2023 presidential campaign, announcing that every citizen would soon ha