Should doctors hide behind hospitals to advertise their services and thus violate the medical ethics? PATRICK GITHINJI explores
You may have noticed a billboard or a TV advert pitching for the superior services of a particular private hospital.
According to Kenyan law, hospitals are not allowed to advertise their services to the public, but this is quickly changing.
A general practitioner at a private clinic in Nairobi, Dr Jonathan Muema, told My Health, that it is unfortunate for hospitals to consider spending patients’ money on advertising instead of treating their clients.
Dr Muema says these hospitals are spending a lot of money on advertising so as to attract well-heeled and well-insured patients.
"When you think about it, how much can a patient learn from a hospital advert?" pauses Dr Muema, adding that, "Would you consider telling your doctor that you wanted to have a by-pass surgery at hospital Y because you heard on radio that they put excellence first or saw in a magazine an ad displaying a sunlit reception area?"
The chairman of the Kenya Medical Association, Dr Andrew Sule, takes issue with doctors being used in these commercials.
Dr Sule says the involvement of medics in the advertisement of a service or product is unethical.
"We have already reported the matter to the Kenya Medical and Practitioners Board," confirms Dr Sule.
"These doctors are hiding behind the hospitals to advertise their services and are thus violating the ethics," complains Dr Sule.
He notes that while it is not wrong for hospitals to advertise, using doctors to advocate for uptake of a particular service goes against the guidelines.
Globally, Dr Sule says, medics are not allowed to advertise their services because no doctor is superior to the other.
The practice, he says has been applied in the schools of medicine where doctors are not categorised into classes based on their performance.
Advertise
Paul Levy, visiting president and chief executive officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, based in Boston, explains that one of the reasons hospitals advertise is to respond to the doctors’ pressure.
"The advertisement assures them that you support their programmes. Before I took on this job, I discussed with the head of a major Boston hospital who gave that as a primary reason for advertising."
But he says little evidence exists to show that ads work in creating business.
Another purpose for advertising is to educate the public about certain diseases and the treatment available.
Paul reckons that academic medical centres rationalise that they are offering this general benefit to the public in their ads.
"But really, who would consider these one-page blurbs an effective means for such education?" he questions.
He is of the opinion that ads are posted mainly as a component of creating a broader brand identity.
According to the Executive Officer of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB), Mr Daniel Yumbia, there is no problem with hospitals advertising their services.
However, Yumbia says the issue has been doctors advertising their services.
He contends that it is now increasingly becoming important for the public to know the specialists available in the country.
Therefore, Yumbia says the board is considering reviewing the doctors’ regulation on advertising but only on their website.
Such adverts will not focus on how good an expert is, but will provide a list of the specialists in the various medical fields.
"We want to review the regulation of professional doctors, that is the Code of Conduct and Practice. We have not yet completed reviewing the code," said Yumbia.
Yumbia also argues that publicising hospital equipment is not prohibited so long as the facility does not say their machines are the best.
"Publicising hospital equipment helps the patients know that certain devices are locally available," explains Yumbia.
However, according to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board laws (Cap 244), advertising medical equipment is prohibited.
The Law says, "Subject to this Act, no person shall take part in the publication of an advertisement referring to a drug, appliance or article of any description in terms that are calculated to imply that the drug, appliance or article may be effective for any of the purposes specified in the schedule."
Mr Yumbia says a move by facilities to advertise will enlighten patients about the services offered in the country in order to discourage migration to other countries in pursuit of treatment.
On his part, Dr Muema says the penalty provided for those who commit the offences that go against the Act is too lenient and needs to be increased.
The law fines first offenders a fine not exceeding Sh20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both, and for second offender, a fine not exceeding Sh30,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.
Althought the modernisation of hospitals is a good reason for Kenyans to celebrate, that is not the case.
The introduction of new and specialised equipment in various public and private hospitals countrywide, has been accompanied by an increase in the cost of treatment.
Add this to the price of drugs and specialist consultations and you have a figure that is utterly ridiculous.
In such a situation, if the patient or their family cannot be able to raise the required amount of money to foot the medical bill, the victim goes home to await the inevitable — death.