Local doctors offer best hope of providing quality healthcare

Many doctors and patients are cognizant of the fact that locally, the national rationale of only responding to patient or worker complaints during crisis thrives even in private facilities. Further to this, prices and qualities of care vary so widely between facilities and service providers that it is difficult to reliably project treatment costs, especially in the case of chronic conditions.PHOTO:COURTESY

The nation spends a lot of time bemoaning the brains that carry our best minds and talents away from the public health sector.

Eighty per cent of Kenyan doctors reportedly leave the civil service either for private practice locally or across the borders to work for public or private health care sectors abroad. This means that for every five doctors trained in Kenya, the public sector is only able to retain one despite the urgent need for trained personnel.