The recent political developments consisting of the popular Generation Z uprising to castigate poor governance and leadership have exposed the underbelly of the health system. It is now clear as day that the country is still incapacitated in terms of handling numerous casualties in case of an emergency, for example, a natural calamity.
As much as the 2010 constitution guarantees every citizen the right to the highest attainable standards of health, including emergency treatment, the recent happenings have shown that what is on paper is not adequately implemented.
In many instances where peaceful protesters were admitted for emergency treatment with gunshot wounds and after clobbering, many other patients in critical conditions hosted in the various health facilities, including national hospitals, had to be abandoned.
Some emergency admissions were also made to wait for long periods due to the facilities and personnel being overwhelmed. As a result, lives that could have been saved were unnecessarily lost, in complete disregard of human dignity.
Given the number of medical doctors, clinical officers, nurses and other health experts with the backdrop of the recent health officers’ strikes, the government has done very little to cushion citizens against health emergencies.
Additionally, the government has failed to convince Kenyans of the effectiveness of the Social Health Insurance Fund as much as it did with the National Health Insurance Fund. Despite deductions from Kenyans hard-earned money, NHIF has been marred by ineffective service delivery and massive allegations of corruption.
The auditor general last week exposed grand rot in the leadership of the NHIF that should cushion Kenyans against insurmountable health costs. The misappropriation of funds has been done with impunity, all to the detriment of Kenyans who, in large numbers, are still living below the poverty line.
The government, through the Ministry of Health, needs to effectively allocate public resources to health expenditures. In so doing, any investment in health gives returns to every other sector. The government should also employ adequate personnel to ensure the recommended doctor-to-patient and nurse-to-patient ratios.
SHIF should be foolproof to seal loopholes identified in NHIF, and fortified with noble initiatives such as the Linda Mama programme, which significantly reduced maternal mortality and morbidity rates.
Above all, the President should champion anti-corruption by being a role model and dealing harshly with graft cases per the law alongside the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Dr Manasseh Onyimbi is senior medical officer and research scientist and Onyimbi Nelson is health advocate at NAYA Kenya