BOSIRE: Kenya's glaring health inequalities

A sick girl receives medication in a private clinic in Kapau , Tirioko ward in Tiaty Sub-County, on October 3,2017. PHOTO| FILE| NATION

Eleven days ago, the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in Nairobi, launched its new Positron Emission Tomography (PET) CT scan machine together with its cyclotron particle accelerator.

The event marked a massive leap in advancement of healthcare in Kenya. The acquisition of this important diagnostic tool is not only a sign of how much it is needed, but also a sign of the level of affluence that exists in the country.

Being a private hospital, Aga Khan can only consider such an investment, with the assurance that this expensive equipment (it was worth Sh600 million), which happens to be very costly to install and run, will be put to good use and in the long run, recover its cost and maintain its operational costs.

The tide of patients heading out to India to access this service is fairly high. Therefore, Aga Khan was not off the mark when providing the service.

These patients are not only from Kenya, but also from neighbouring countries and the region at large. They will certainly save a lot, even if it is just the air fare to India.

A week ago, there was another important continental event: The Second African Union Conference on Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health hosted by Kenya at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi.

The three-day event mapped where we are as a continent, steps needed to achieve the critical sustainable development goals and what we are currently doing in our various small spaces.

TALKING BOOKS

Innovations for health featured very strongly, with different key players showcasing their work. The most fascinating innovation I came across, was the Digisomo talking books by Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication (CBCC).

This simple little gadget scored 10/10, not only for its simplicity and impact but also in the massive transformation in behaviour change that it has had in the rural communities of Turkana, Pokot and Samburu.

The simple battery-operate digital audio-computer serves as a talking book to the populations in the arid North that have little or no formal education.

The talking book provides health information through dramatisation, disseminating powerful health messages to the people in a language they can understand and relate to.

What was even more commendable, is the impact this little gadget has had when it comes to behaviour change.

It is obvious that CBCC has seriously invested in psychologists and anthropological research, to be able to understand their target populations, their customs, practices and behaviours and then plan how best to influence positive change.

SOCIO- ECONOMIC DIVIDE

In communities where men consider pregnancy, childbirth and raising children the preserve of women, it is no mean feat to get young morans to accompany their wives to ante-natal clinics or carry their little ones miles away to the nearest clinic for vaccination.

In a country where we have a population that can afford to seek PET-CT scans at a premium fee in another continent, it is amazing that the same country is home to people with such little education that we need basic audio gadgets to pass on basic health messages such as the importance of antenatal care, breastfeeding, child nutrition and vaccination.

These are things majority of us take for granted as technology has put everything on our palms.

Despite our constitution guaranteeing all of us the right to health, our socio-economic divide determines how we define that right. For the affluent, the “highest attainable standard of health” means access to modern technology in diagnostics, modern treatment options and the very best specialists across the globe.

To the mother in Baragoi in Samburu, being able to deliver in a health centre with a trained midwife to avoid complications sums it up.

LARGE DIVIDE

We cannot speak of meaningful access to health for all if we do not close this divide. A patient cannot demand for services they know nothing about.

The lack of formal education and economic empowerment means that underserved populations continue to lag behind in health.

This then means that the national and county governments will not feel the pressure to step up healthcare services provided to this population.

In the beautiful wild North, healthcare services are still very basic. Fortifying nutrition through ensuring food security and adequate knowledge on nutrition goes a long way in setting the building blocks for enhancing healthcare.

Strengthening preventive medicine through vaccination, elimination of harmful practices, health education and screening services is a major pillar in developing healthy populations.

There has to be a concerted effort to progressively grow and enhance curative services in these forgotten parts of the country to achieve health equity.

The rate of growth of health facilities seen in the rest of Kenya needs to be replicated in northern Kenya. Unique solutions are needed for this population and their nomadic way of life should no longer be the excuse for poor health services.

Maybe it is time to consider upgrading the functionality of Lodwar County Referral Hospital to Level Six (national referral)status!