The Teachers Service Commission and its medical insurer, Minet Kenya, have reached an agreement that will see teachers get treatment for Coronavirus under the scheme. The 328,000 teachers in primary and secondary schools are expected to benefit.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) says teachers and their dependants can access Covid-19 treatment as well as other healthcare services at any health facility.
“In line with this, the Minet Kenya-led Consortium in conjunction with TSC has been and will continue to support government’s efforts to combat Covid-19 by ensuring that any scheme member diagnosed with Covid-19 and exhibits symptoms, is able to access medical treatment at the designated scheme medical facilities,” said TSC’s CEO Nancy Macharia.
This, though, is subject to the medical scheme’s terms and conditions. This is a big plus for teachers as many insurance companies have declined to cover the treatment of Coronavirus.
Ms Macharia said other mitigation measures have been put in place in an effort to support teachers and their dependents and to reduce the risk of contracting the virus There’s a Covid-19 incidence reporting USSD tool *202*07# for teachers and their dependents and mental health and psychosocial support tele-counselling toll-free line 0800720029.”
This will also enhance access to telemedicine services.
Other measures include delivering drugs to registered chronic patients, distribution of hand sanitisers to members and utilising the option of OTP (One Time PIN) identification to avoid contact and likely infection through the use of biometric fingerprint readers.
Preventive measures
It is working on rolling out facial and eye recognition for identification. Teachers can also get medical treatment while in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda or Tanzania.
She called on teachers to take Ministry of Health’s preventive measures seriously, including regular hand washing, using alcohol-based hand sanitisers, wearing face masks and observing social distancing.“Only when all of us exercise responsible citizenship through strict compliance to all mitigation measures shall we overcome the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
