Failure to equip hospitals turns them into death cages

The purpose of creating devolved units was to bring services closer to the people.

Health services were among those devolved. However, some health facilities were left under the national government. The idea was well thought out.

The passing and the subsequent promulgation of the Constitution on August, 27, 2010 put the idea into pragmatic shape.

The Government has indeed done a remarkable job in improving health provision in the country as envisaged through the introduction of affordable healthcare services in public health facilities, free maternal health services and the purchase of more machines for cancer dialysis and diagnosis.

Another notable development is the introduction of mobile clinics by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta through her Beyond Zero Campaign.

Nevertheless, there still remain several hurdles that the Government needs to address to move the health sector a notch higher.

There has been an array of strikes among health workers over delayed salaries, drugs shortages and under staffing in some of our health facilities. The rise of quacks in the sector is also worrying.

There's need to employ more doctors and nurses to reduce the doctor-patient ratio to achieve efficiency. The health workers should also be well remunerated to motivate them. This will end industrial unrest in the sector.

There is also the need for ample and timely budgeting to ensure that health facilities have enough drugs and that they are equipped with the necessary paraphernalia.

The Ministry of Health should also crack the whip on impostors who toy with the health of desperate Kenyans. The Ministry of Higher Learning should also help eradicate the cancer of half-baked medics by ensuring quality training of health practitioners.

The Government should also ensure closer monitoring of drugs supplied to health institutions to curb the scenarios where some doctors have been accused of smuggling drugs meant for public health institutions and taking them to their private clinics.

When a patient is rushed to a hospital, their families' and their own faith that they will get better begins and ends there. When the health facility lacks the necessary personnel, equipment or even drugs to treat the patient, hope fades and this virtually kills that patient. By not funding our health centres well, we are simply turning them into death cages.

Needless to say, health is indispensable for everyone to perform their lives' demands effectively. Better healthcare is a right for every Kenyan and they should be able to get it effortlessly. The Government can never absolve itself from the blame of causing unnecessary deaths to Kenyans by not providing better healthcare to them.