Last Fri­day in Kitui, I watched women trained under the KAWI Green Africa Pro­gram grad­u­ate after weeks of installing solar home sys­tems and clean cook­stoves. It felt less like a cer­e­mo­ny and more like a diag­no­sis and a cure. While our nation debates the Social Health Author­i­ty (SHA), these women were deliv­er­ing the kind of health­care no card can buy: clean­er indoor air, safer nights for chil­dren, and few­er hours spent breath­ing smoke. That is pre­ven­tion in action.

Let’s be hon­est. SHA mat­ters, but action often comes too late. When air, water, and soil get pol­lut­ed, hos­pi­tals will always be over­whelmed. The envi­ron­ment itself is the first hos­pi­tal, and pol­i­cy must treat it that way.

By 2023, elec­tric­i­ty access in Kenya reached 76 per­cent, but mil­lions still cook with smoky fuels that dam­age lungs and strain hos­pi­tals. Gov­ern­ment data show 19.6 mil­lion res­pi­ra­to­ry cas­es annu­al­ly, main­ly from bio­mass smoke. The Nation­al Cook­ing Tran­si­tion Strat­e­gy aims for uni­ver­sal access to clean cook­ing because house­hold air pol­lu­tion is dead­ly but pre­ventable. Repeat­ed cholera out­breaks empha­size the ongo­ing need for safe water and san­i­ta­tion, while glob­al­ly, women remain under­rep­re­sent­ed in solar energy—an gap we must close to reach more house­holds faster and more safely.

First­ly, Kenya must shift from treat­ment bud­gets to pre­ven­tion invest­ments. A country’s seri­ous finan­cial sit­u­a­tion is what keeps cit­i­zens out of hos­pi­tals. This means allo­cat­ing real resources for clean cook­ing, rain­wa­ter har­vest­ing, cli­mate-smart agri­cul­ture, waste man­age­ment, and com­mu­ni­ty tree plant­i­ng. We can cre­ate a Pre­ven­tive Health Win­dow in nation­al and coun­ty bud­gets that funds out­comes such as few­er smoke-relat­ed ill­ness­es, few­er water­borne out­breaks, and more pro­duc­tive work­days. Kenya’s clean-cook­ing strat­e­gy already points the way; we must finance it with urgency.

Sec­ond­ly, we need a gen­uine Health and Envi­ron­ment Com­pact. The Min­istries of Health and Envi­ron­ment, SHA, reg­u­la­tors, and coun­ties should share tar­gets and data. Let us focus on what tru­ly mat­ters: few­er clin­ic vis­its asso­ci­at­ed with clean cook­ing, few­er cholera cas­es linked to pro­tect­ed water sources, and improved birth out­comes relat­ed to pes­ti­cide con­trol. When we only count hos­pi­tal beds and ignore the trees, tanks, and stoves that pre­vent dis­ease, we cel­e­brate minor wins while miss­ing the big­ger pic­ture. Kenya’s rapid increase in elec­tric­i­ty access shows what real align­ment can achieve.

Third­ly, pre­ven­tion must pay. The quick­est way to make con­ser­va­tion unstop­pable is to make it prof­itable. Com­mu­ni­ties can earn mon­ey from clean kitchens, solar ser­vices, water pro­tec­tion, sus­tain­able farm­ing, tree nurs­eries, and bee­keep­ing. Women-led busi­ness­es can be paid per house­hold that adopts clean­er stoves, per ton of smoke reduced, or per solar sys­tem main­tained. Youth groups can pro­tect water springs, har­vest rain, and ensure work­ing tanks. Farm­ers can earn pre­mi­ums for using pes­ti­cide-smart and soil-restor­ing meth­ods that improve nutri­tion and reduce expo­sure. House­holds that plant trees and keep bees can make forests more valu­able alive than cut.

Edu­ca­tion must pro­mote change. Envi­ron­men­tal health should be part of every school and church cur­ricu­lum. Chil­dren need to learn that a tree func­tions like a lung, a riv­er is like a vein, and soil is like a pantry. SHA should allo­cate funds for pre­ven­tion mes­sages just as strong­ly as for claims; the most cost-effec­tive claim is the one nev­er made.

Lead­ers must be hon­est. We can­not cure dis­ease while our dai­ly choic­es cause it. True heal­ing starts with how we live.

We are not pow­er­less. Start where you stand: keep kitchens clean, har­vest water, plant trees, keep bees, and reuse waste. Small actions done well can trans­form Kenya. As I write in Green for Life, last­ing lead­er­ship fol­lows MPR — Mis­takes, Prob­lems, and Respect. We must learn quick­ly, solve what oth­ers avoid, and treat every per­son with dignity.

The women of Kitui expe­ri­enced it first­hand before receiv­ing applause. Every copy of the book sup­ports liveli­hoods like theirs. The Social Health Author­i­ty can man­age dis­ease, but only envi­ron­men­tal care can pre­vent it. Kenya needs few­er hos­pi­tals and more healthy ecosystems.

Think Green, Act Green!