Kenyan hospitals must take their core duties seriously

The sad story of the late Alex Madaga, the man who was involved in an accident on October 5th 2015 in Nairobi and spent over 18 hours on life support in an ambulance being shuffled between various hospitals within Nairobi is a serious indictment on the National and the Nairobi County Governments.

This story highlights the inadequacies, weak policies and lack of clear guidelines in critical ministries and institutions that leave the ordinary citizens at the mercy of individuals who are guided by the principle of wealth acquisition; anything else is of secondary importance.

The core business of any hospital or medical practitioner is to save lives by employing all means possible at their disposal. Accidents on our congested roads are almost an everyday occurrence, but which no one would wish on another. It is humanly impossible for one to predict when they might be involved in a motor accident to allow them carry surplus cash to pay to hospitals as advance payment for treatment.

The fact that two hospitals in Nairobi could adamantly refuse to admit a man hovering on the edge of death following a serious accident despite entreaties from a distraught wife and the crew of an ambulance who were frantic to save a life in line with their calling is heart rending as it shows the callousness in some individuals who claim to be medics. It surely does not make sense; neither is it acceptable that any hospital should demand Sh200000 from an accident victim before admission. It makes nonsense of professional ethics. Those involved must be punished for causing death that could have been avoided.

It is equally preposterous and unacceptable that Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the largest referral hospital in East and Central Africa has only 21 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds. Early this year, the government got into a Sh38 billion medical deal with a foreign firm to supply medical equipment to two hospitals in all the 47 counties. Why wasn't the biggest referral hospital given priority? Only a few weeks ago patients who go for dialysis could not be attended to at Kenyatta after the only machinery they have broken down.

It is imperative for both tiers of government to put in place policies and regulations that protect citizens caught in emergency situations like that of the late Madaga. Kenyans should not die in their own country from lack of medical attention just because they are poor. This unfortunate incident puts up a case for need of a comprehensive medical insurance scheme for the less fortunate that is able to respond to such situations.

Kenya can borrow a leaf from America's Obamacare scheme that allows all citizens access to quality health care. It is through the Obamacare act of 2010 that health insurers found it hard to make unjustified rate hikes while the public was given the right to appeal insurance company's decisions. With Obamacare, top earners get taxed more to finance healthcare while those in low income brackets get tax credits and tax breaks.

Making the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) monthly payments affordable to the poor is one of the ways of ensuring citizens are able to access quality medical  care. With the recent hikes in the NHIF rates, it means the poor in this country will die from treatable diseases just because they cannot raise instant money to be attended to.

The current mess in the medical sector must be addressed urgently before all our hospitals become death traps for the poor.