Three out of ten people in Nyandarua have been battered, hospitalised

Nyandarua is now the most dangerous county on gender based violence with nearly three in every ten people having been rushed to hospital with injuries in 2016.

A government funded study, the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey (KIHBS), shows that 27.6 per cent of residents in the county ended up in hospital after the fight. This is sixteen times the national average of 1.7 per cent.

The numbers could be higher if those that did not go to hospital or those that lied to doctors the causes of their injuries is factored in.

Kajiado County came second in gender based violence cases treated in hospitals with 6.3 per cent of residents nursing injuries from domestic fights.

Others on the top ten list of the most violent include Samburu (6 per cent), Kisumu (5.1 per cent), Mombasa (4.7 per cent), Kiambu (4 per cent), Wajir (3.9 per cent), and Turkana (3.1 per cent).

But the KIHBS report released this week, does not show distribution of cases per gender but in other reports, men just like women, were also increasingly becoming victims.

For instance, a report by Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 2014 had indicated that men from Western, Nairobi and Nyanza regions experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence from their wives.

KIHBS, which was released this week was conducted over a 12-month period to obtain up-to-date data on a range of socioeconomic indicators used to monitor the implementation of development initiatives.

The counties that reported almost no gender based violence cases in hospital include Busia, Kirinyaga, Mandera, Homa Bay and Migori.

Overall, the report notes that 5 per cent of the population that were sick experienced work-related sickness or injury during the reference period.

Work related sickness

“Urban areas registered higher proportions of those with work related illness compared to their rural counterparts,” the report notes.

Nyeri and Kilifi counties reported a higher proportion of population (17.1 per cent and 14.8 per cent, respectively) who suffered work related sickness or injury.

The report also revealed that traditional healers and herbalists were competing with medics at local health facilities in the counties almost neck to neck as the places where patients went to seek diagnosis.

Nationally, 28.3 per cent of the population with sickness or injury visited health workers at a health facility for diagnosis.

Diagnosis by a traditional healer and herbalist was reported by 31.4 per cent and 26.3 per cent, respectively, of the population with sickness or injury.

“The results show a higher proportion of the urban population had their illnesses diagnosed by health worker compared to their rural counterparts,” the report adds.

Counties with high proportions of population that reported diagnosis by a health worker were Embu, Isiolo, Wajir, Uasin Gishu and Mombasa.

Residents of West Pokot are the biggest users of traditional healers, with seven in every ten (75 per cent) going to them. Only 8 per cent of West Pokot residents went to a health worker at a health facility to know the cause of their sicknesses.

Overall, more Kenyans were using traditional healers than health facilities in the period under review. Kwale, Kilifi, Taita Taveta, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Nyandarua, Vihiga, Siaya, Kisumu and Migori counties were also some of the biggest users of traditional healers, with at 4 out of every ten using them for diagnosis.

Besides health workers and traditional healers, some Kenyans also turned to non-household members, self, herbalists, and faith healers among others for diagnosis purposes.

The findings show that 23.9 per cent of the population that were sick lost between 1 to 2 days of work or school while 15.5 per cent lost 3 to 4 days

Approximately a third of the population that reported illness did not miss any day of work or school due to illness.

But one in every three people in Marsabit County reported as sick lost between one to two weeks of work or school due to the illness, making the county one of the worse hit.

Treatment

Elgeyo Marakwet County had the highest proportion (88.9 per cent) of those with illness or injuries visiting public health facilities.

Other counties with high proportions of the sick utilising government health facilities were Migori (87.4 per cent), Siaya (85.9 per cent), Kakamega (85.7 per cent) and Busia (85.6 per cent).

“On the other hand, Mombasa County had the least proportion (38 per cent) of the population who reported sickness or injuries visiting public health facilities for treatment and the highest proportion (53.6 per cent) of those seeking treatment from private hospitals or clinics,” the report notes.

Visits to community health workers were prevalent among the sick in Mandera, Elgeyo Marakwet and Siaya, while visits to mission or faith based health facilities were mainly reported by individuals in Marsabit and Samburu counties.