Pius Maundu
@piusmaundu
Forget Al-Shabaab,
the real terrorist is the health sector
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Who knows if the ambulances we have seen governors parading
for the press are not just emblazoned cars with siren?
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Not so long ago, over 50 Kenyans died in Embu and Makueni
counties after consuming poisonous liqour. Scores went blind.
Before the victims could come to terms with the fact that
they could be beggars for the rest of their lives, another batch of Kenyans in
Eldoret succumbed to ale under similar circumstances.
Beyond the ensuing furore, the deaths pointed at an incapacitated health system in Kenya. Or better yet, lack of an elaborate health care
plan in Kenya.
For the longest time now, the State has approached health
care in a lackluster manner. Forget the antagonism on the devolution of the vital
sector.
From its budgeting, it is obvious that the State is ready to
see more Kenyans die of manageable conditions. What else explains a mere 5% of
the National Revenue going to the healthcare in the 2014/2015 financial year?
It should be noted that in 2001, 189 heads of states met in
Abuja, Nigeria deliberating on ways of improving
on the social and economic conditions of their countries.
Kenya is one of the states that signed the Abuja Declaration
of 2001 a document which, among other elements, saw them commit 15% of their
national budgets to the healthcare sector.
One wonders whether the 5% allocation to healthcare sector
points solely to the lack of wherewithal by the State.
Poor facilitation and a myriad of lopsided policies is
responsible for the wanton killing of Kenyans.
According to Dr. Borniface Chitayi, the only health facility
that can handle methanol poisoning in Kenya is the sprawling Kenyatta National
Hospital, KNH.
Attempting to improve accessibility through devolution of
healthcare, in its hurried form, has been nothing short of a pipe dream. Instead,
this has been the devolution of poor service, and profiteering, marked by the
disappearance of cost-sharing funds.
Especially considering that the county leaders aren’t
comfortable working with healthcare professionals to set up infrastructure.
In
the counties where healthcare workers were cowed into stage managing their compliance
with devolved healthcare were the first to cry foul that they weren’t sure of
the nature of their contracts with their new employers.
Who knows if the ambulances we have seen governors parading
for the press are not just emblazoned cars with siren?
In the meanwhile, it is scary to imagine what would happen
should Ebola strike. Perhaps the ubiquitous ambulances will come in handy,
ferrying sickly Kenyans to their death beds.
Obviously, all the sirens will be heading to KNH, an already
overwhelmed facility. It has been wanting for eons.
But who is willing to enhance the capacity of this facility
anyway?
Politicians must have observed leerly on online photos of
Jose Mujica, Uruguay’s president queuing
to be served in a public healthcare facility. What they are
forgetting is that while they are capable of flying their kin and kith to
India, their voters will continue drawing from public health facilities.
Once you can afford to fly your wife to John Hopkins, it is
easy to forget that you have relatives who will need public healthcare.
But the beneficiaries of public healthcare has been numbed into
being apathetic. This is what happens when the media lacks in objectivity.
Aspiring leaders are seldom put to task on their policies on
healthcare. It did not happen during the 2013 Presidential Debates. Instead
land, described as the “elephant in the room,” took center-stage.
And true to the premonition, land squabbles are giving leader
across the political divide sleepless nights. But even while it is one of the
theories pundits pulled on the terror attacks in Lamu and Tana River, it plays
second fiddle.
In its poor state, healthcare remains one of the greatest
threats Kenyans are facing day in day out.
