We’ve made strides but let’s do more to improve health sector

Today, Kenya joins the rest of the world in marking the World Health Day. This day offers us another chance to reflect on the strengths, opportunities and weaknesses in the country’s healthcare system.

The day is also being marked at a time the Universal Health Coverage (UHC), touted as a panacea for the sector’s teething setbacks, is being rolled out.

Since the devolution of healthcare in 2013, Kenyans have witnessed a mixed bag as far as healthcare is concerned. Lack of drugs and essential supplies have almost become a permanent feature not to mention frequent strikes by medics.  

On this occasion, we urge authorities to reflect on these challenge that continue to compromise service delivery and condemning thousands of Kenyans to untold suffering. The vitality of a country’s health system is an important parameter of assessing its economic health and quality of life.

While we celebrate the strides, including free maternity and devolution of healthcare to the counties, we must ask the hard questions. Why, for instance, would a government buy a radiology machine for a county that has no single trained radiologist? Could it be because of kickbacks and the desire to be seen to be doing something, anything?

We challenge the leadership – at national and county levels – not to be fixated with material aspect of healthcare. Programmes that are haphazardly rolled out to score political goals and enrich cartels should have no place in the 21st century.

Counties have the humongous task of implementing viable health policies and this can only show when they put in substantive money for preventive, promotive, curative and palliative healthcare.

It must start from a point whereby the national government will allocate at least 15 per cent of the annual budget to the health sector to achieve the Abuja Declaration requirements.

For the past four years, Kenya’s allocation to the health sector has hovered at a paltry seven per cent. With health financing being a critical pillar of any health system, there is a serious need for Kenya to rethink its financing models. One of the ways will be to look into the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) by putting stringent measures that will help ensure member contributions are put into prudent use.

This could mean getting a headstrong board made up of people with integrity, a clean management system and above board procurement processes. That aside, Kenya must start having a serious discussion with itself on preventive healthcare at a time when non-communicable diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes are on the rise.

Public education

Most of these are due to lifestyle choices into which Kenyans are either forced or choose on their own. To ensure physical fitness, the government could just decide to build lanes to encourage the use of bicycles. Some of these health challenges can simply be averted through proper public education.

On curative health, it is necessary that the government puts its acts together to ensure health facilities are properly equipped and that there are essential drugs. To achieve this, the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) should be reformed to ensure that shortages in medical supplies are history.

Health facilities have been constructed and equipment bought but these are yet to have an impact on the well-being of Kenyans. Time has come for us to focus on the software to run some of equipment like X-ray and CT scan machines. Some equipment, acquired through questionable lease agreements, are lying idle in hospitals as counties cough up money to service the leases.

And to address the shortage of health personnel, We appeal to counties should engage community more health workers, work with the donor community as well as other healthstakeholders to ensure uninterrupted yet quality service provision. We can do it. Others countries have done.