The state is no longer working for us

On a daily basis, crowd sourcing efforts of one kind or another occur in the Kenyan social media sphere. Often, they are geared towards meeting someone’s medical needs. Most of these cases turn to the media as a last resort.

On June 4, a friend launched the #1MilliforJadudi campaign. This Twitter campaign was intended to raise Sh1 million for Jadudi, a 22-year-old University of Nairobi student who has to endure a third brain surgery for a persistent brain tumour.

Kenyans and many corporates have contributed and Jadudi will receive the surgery he needs in India and good care after. Jadudi’s case has offered yet another opportunity to shed light on multiple cancers in our society.

On a daily basis, we all live up to the social responsibilities that come with age. As an individual, I contribute to hospital bills when family, friends and colleagues struggle.

This is in addition to funeral, wedding and school fees requests. However, I recognise that my stepping up to some of these “responsibilities” points to a failure of the state to cater for its least privileged.

AFFORDABLE SERVICES

If the state has not failed in its role to provide access to basic and affordable services such as health, education, housing, water and food, why is it that a section of the society is constantly on the receiving end of “charitable acts” from others?

By refusing to ask why healthcare harambees are on the rise, for fear of being interpreted as callous, uncaring and unfocussed on the present need, we continue to fill the gap for a state that is failing the vast majority of its citizens. We fulfill the self-perpetuating prophecy that the state does not work for us.

As we celebrate evidence of the Kenyan spirit in the financial contributions towards Jadudi’s healthcare, we must escalate this conversation to one about the persistent failures of the healthcare system in this country.

We cannot disconnect the financial contributions by citizens to Jadudi from the syphoning of public resources that would ensure Jadudi and others should be able to walk into a healthcare facility and acquire those services at a subsidized rate because the state cares enough for those who cannot pay the full fee.

TOURISM PATIENTS

Equally, we cannot ignore the rise in medical tourism to India. In 2014, the Kenya Bureau of Statistics estimated that 100,000 medical tourism patients travel from Kenya each year.

In the same breath, we must also recognise that many Kenyans who can, travel to India and elsewhere for basic surgical procedures because they do not trust the healthcare system enough to believe they will survive a surgeon’s knife. Medical malpractice and lethargy compound the systemic issues facing overworked and underpaid public healthcare professionals.

More importantly, the incumbent government has a legacy opportunity to plug runaway corruption and redirect stolen state resources towards education, health and security, among others.
#IMilliforJadudi does not a problem solve. We need a working and affordable healthcare system for all Jadudis.

Dr Okech is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Politics and International Relations.