Prayers are good for the sick of western, but medicine is better

If wananchi have to turn to religion for anything at all, then let it be because they are grateful for the good health facilities that they have. They should seek God out for thanksgiving, rather than hoping against hope and operating on a wing and prayer, hoping that nothing bad happens to them. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Even a manageable ailment is a death sentence in western Kenya and it does not matter whether you have money or not.
  • A patient in need of emergency services has to do a two-hour drive in an ambulance to get treatment.
  • Bungoma and Busia, jointly, have the second-highest population in the country, but residents have been left to their own devices.

A recent trip to western Kenya opened my eyes to why religion is big in the region.

The citizens are in perpetual need of divine intervention, and this is why.

Even a manageable ailment is a death sentence in the region and it does not matter whether you have money or not. For instance, there is not a single ICU bed in Bungoma and Busia counties.

Kakamega, western Kenya’s model county, has only six in its referral hospital.

A patient in need of emergency services has to do a two-hour drive in an ambulance to get treatment. For this reason, only God can save the sick in western.

CUBAN DOCTORS

The recent deal Kenya got into with Cuba to have specialists work in counties is noble but of what use will these doctors be with such poor facilities?

One asthma patient was referred to Kakamega for specialised treatment after health workers in Bungoma failed to get her lungs kicking. Thank God for the nurses and clinical officers that are the main line of medical care in the county for their efforts.

When they examined this patient they immediately asked the family to rush her to the nearest ICU facility. They had to travel 60 kilometres to Kakamega.

Huyu hawezi fika Eldoret (this patient cannot make it to Eldoret),” said the doctor. Eldoret was 100 kilometres away.

On a doctor’s instructions, the family started looking for an ambulance, with the only one available arriving almost an hour later because it had taken another patient to hospital. Prior to this, departure calls had to be made to the Kakamega hospital to find out if there was an extra bed and book it in advance.

GOD'S WILL

As the clock slowly ticked, one doctor despaired, saying: "Mkubali hii ni mambo ya mungu (accept that this is the will of God)”. When a doctor gives up, what hope do relatives of the sick have?

Hours later, the patient got to Kakamega and her lungs were attended to. But the delay had resulted into another complication; her heart had grown weak due to the delay in getting urgent medical attention. She had to be resuscitated.

After two days in ICU and thanks to a bespectacled, jeans-wearing doctor (I believe he is not a health professional but a miracle worker), she was out of danger.

However, a simple asthma attack had come close to a near-death experience, thanks to a dysfunctional healthcare system.

HIGH POPULATION

Bungoma and Busia, jointly, have the second-highest population in the country, but residents have been left to their own devices.

To all intents and purposes, fervent religiosity would seem to be a legitimate survival tactic.

Six years into devolution, it is not clear what the county governments have been prioritising if not healthcare.

Governor Wycliffe Wangamati of Bungoma has been known to cut on county expenditure.

So efficient is he that tenderprenuers and those who benefited from irregular payments and allowances are up in arms.

The only problem is that he relishes the sight of a fat county bank account.

Not much work appears to be going on, at least to the common mwananchi.

BUMPY ROAD

A case in point is that visitors driving into the county from Kakamega will know they are now in Bungoma because the road suddenly gets bumpy.

Mr Governor, as you plan your budget and when you finally open the county purses, prioritise the health sector. While God is always merciful there is need for the government to do its bit.

I am not sure why Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong has not done much in spite of being in office for six years.

A mother from Busia who had had a caesarean operation that went wrong was also ferried to Kakamega for intensive care but, unfortunately, she did not survive.

If it God’s will, as the good doctor had said, then let all humanly possible avenues be exhausted.

If wananchi have to turn to religion for anything at all, then let it be because they are grateful for the good health facilities that they have.

They should seek God out for thanksgiving, rather than hoping against hope and operating on a wing and prayer, hoping that nothing bad happens to them.

It is unimaginable that this should be the case when the budgets of these counties run into billions year in, year out.