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Kenya’s public healthcare is in a crisis with data from the government itself and the World Bank painting a clear picture of the magnitude of the crisis.
As Kenyans who cannot afford treatment at private hospitals or abroad continue to suffer under a system that is bedeviled by challenges, the number of politicians seeking treatment abroad or at reputable private hospitals is on the rise.
The right to the highest attainable standard of health including the right to health care services is enshrined in the constitution.
Whether Kenyans are enjoying this right is in doubt given the mess that appears to have worsened in recent months.
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Sending medics abroad amid shortage in public hospitals
Doctors and nurses are overwhelmed by the sheer number of patients that they have to attend to. The irony in this is that Kenya has thousands of qualified doctors and nurses who are unemployed with the government actively initiatives of exporting medics to other countries as Kenyans die at home.
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According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Kenya’s doctor-to-patient ratio is 1 doctor per 5,263 Kenyans, five times above the WHO-recommended ratio of 1 doctor for every 1,000.
Working conditions and facilities
The working condition in public hospitals leaves a lot to be desired and saw Doctors take to the streets to demand a change not long ago and not much has changed since then.
Their motivation is further dented by low pay that delays and which has seen them go on strikes several times.
In some hospitals, patients share beds with some sleeping on floors as was highlighted in a news feature by Citizen TV a few months ago and without a doubt, nothing much has changed.
Sad reality exposed by MoH's Health Facilities Census
The most recent Health Facilities Census by the Ministry of Health published in September 2023 leaves no doubt that despite healthcare being a matter of life and death, Kenyans are on their own as 93% of the country’s health facilities cannot provide basic outpatient services.
With a population of more than 55 million, the census revealed that public hospitals only had 2,304 critical functional beds in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) and High Dependency Units (HDU), and 78% of health facilities are unable to offer critical care.
Politicians and words can lie but numbers don’t, with data from the World Bank indicating that Kenya has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world with 510 women dying for every 100,000 live births.
The government’s own data from the census paints a grim picture with 84% of around 5000 facilities lacking essential equipment for maternity services and leaves no doubts that some of the deaths could have been prevented.
For facilities that had equipment at the time of the census, maintenance of the same is a different matter with patients frequently encountering situations where the equipment are not in a functioning state.
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The few that remain are stretched thin and are outdated as a result of lack of investment in latest technology.
Challenges with SHA persist
The transition from NHIF to SHA was rolled out in a complex ecosystem shrouded in controversy and Kenyans are yet to enjoy the benefits of the raid orchestrated by the government on their payslips more than a year later.
In Embu, teachers are now turning to traditional healers and herbs after a prolonged period of frustration with the SHA, as the taxman continues to raid their pay with no major benefit as was highlighted by KUPPET Embu County Secretary, Jacob Karuraa last week.
The only private hospital in Embu County that had been providing services to teachers under our health scheme has withdrawn its services due to unpaid claims. This has left teachers without reliable healthcare options, forcing many to seek alternative treatments such as traditional herbal remedies
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At the time of the census, a staggering 68% of health facilities do not have access to oxygen delivery equipment and 69% lacking advanced life support ambulances, deaths that would have been prevented in a functional healthcare system are certain.
It is against this backdrop that activists and the citizenry are now pushing for greater accountability and investment in the health sector and to have the mess sorted out once and for all.
The newly-appointed Cabinet Secretary for Health has his job well cut and addressing the mess in the sector is among the priorities that beg his attention.