- This lack of faith in our public health institutions sends a very negative message to the public
- They are simply saying we can't risk our lives there
Whenever a leading public figure in Kenya or in the region falls ill, their first point of call is a private health facility. If their health does not improve, they are flown abroad.
None of our leaders, apart from Charity Ngilu when she was Health minister has ever spent a night at a public hospital.
This lack of faith in our public health institutions sends a very negative message to the public. They are simply saying we can't risk our lives there.
Yet sadly, their treatment at the private five-star hospitals is at the expense of the taxpayer.
Cartels, backed by the same political leadership who run to private facilities when sick, have run down public health institutions through shady procurement, inflated prices, political appointments of ill-qualified people and many other ills.
The Kemsa Covid-19 procurement is just one of the recent health scandals. Individuals walked in empty-handed and walked out with millions in what sounds like a fairy tale.
Public hospitals are still struggling with the payment of medical equipment forced upon them when they least needed the facilities.
An audit on the counties by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu on the status of the leased medical equipment established that some are yet to receive their kits while some of the equipment received remain idle.
Public hospitals are the backbone of any healthy nation and their rot leaves the population at the mercy of the commercially exploitative private facilities.
The political class must ensure our public hospitals are fit not only for their use, but also for the larger public.
Quote of the Day: "I don’t want to die as long as I can work; the minute I cannot, I want to go."
Susan B Anthony
The American social reformer and women's suffrage movement leader died on March 13, 1906