MAL:36:20
FIRST WORD
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NAIROBI - KENYA
Marketing Africa Team
William Kalombo, Mutua Mutua,
Riapius Magoma, Allan Muraya, Fred
Ombati, Sebastian Bungei,Lucy Nyukuri
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Mutua Mutua
Herman Githinji
Janet Sudi
Irene Mbonge
Diana Obath
Sid Boubekeur
Gordon Odundo
Prof. Alfred Omenya
Robert Wamai
Richard Wanjohi
Eugene Wanekeya
David Mugun
Carolyne Gathuru
Marion Wakahe
Kepha Nyanumba
Tiekie Barnard
Dr. Maureen Owiti
Mukui Mbindyo
Valerie Ambetsa
Thrity Engineer-Mbuthia
Boniface Ngahu
Nicholas Gachara
Dr. Catherine Ngahu
Walter Nyabundi
Dr. Clifford Ferguson
Vincent Oduor
Dr. Mary Mugo
Dr. Fred Mugambi
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On Health Scare!
It was a normal Saturday where John had invited his married
daughter and her husband with their three children, two
teenagers and a young child over to his house on the outskirts
of Nairobi, a ritual they repeated once every month.
About an hour after the family dinner John developed a fever and
soon he started to cough and before long he was having difficulty
breathing. And that was the start of a terrifying family drama that
has become all too common in Kenya today.
Under normal circumstances the obvious course of action would
have been to get him into a car and rush him to hospital for
attention. In fact the issue would have been which is the nearest
reasonable hospital given that John is retired and does not have a
medical cover.
The fact that he does not have a medical cover has never been an
issue given that he had always been reasonably healthy and his
pension allowed him to take care of his and his wife’s basic needs
and he still had the NHIF card which he had continued to pay for
annually.
The teenagers were the first to raise the alarm, with the media
deluge that they are exposed to they had diagnosed the symptoms
to be consistent with what the coronavirus caused and their next
action was to realize with horror that now everyone in the house
was infected.
The teenagers then informed everyone with the authority derived
from social media that since there was no cure for the disease all
of them were going to die and they began to cry in self-pity at the
inevitable doom that was theirs.
John’s son in law noticed that his wife had instinctively picked the
child and had wrapped her arms protectively around the child and
he realized he had to take charge before the situation became a total
panic. But he had a snag to contend with.
If the teenagers were right and he did not have any way to dispute
their assertions it would mean that all those in the household would
be put in quarantine including the housemaid at their expense and
a quick calculation indicated that would be around two hundred
thousand at a government institution.
This would be over and above what it would cost them to attend to
John’s ailment and the worrying consideration of all the reported
cases of mistreatment by being put up in unsanitary environments
for isolation. That would be torture for his family.
So against his better judgment he decided not to go into hospital
that evening and took him to a clinic in the neighborhood requesting
them to administer first aid and observe him while he stepped
outside to call his wife to explain his game plan.
He asked her to go outside so they could talk in private and explained
that he would return to the house to take them home in case the
ailment was corona related then they would have to self-isolate at
home without informing the hospital that
they had been in contact with the patient.
He also asked her to let the mother in
law know that she was to come with them
and they would have to give a plausible
explanation to the maid about their
departure to the other house. He would
have to figure out the next day how to
handle the maid who was still in the dark.
When John and his wife are away the
practice was to give the maid an off but
in this case they could not do that since
if she was infected they would not be
irresponsible and send her to her people.
They would have to ask her to stay put.
Further they would not be able to let the
maid know what they were suspicious of
since she would definitely talk to her peers
and the issue would soon be broadcast and
the whole neighborhood would be in a
state of disruption, panic and worry.
He went and took the family home
leaving the maid behind and the whole
exercise took about three hours and by the
time he returned to the clinic he found
that John’s condition had deteriorated and
the clinical officer informed him that he
needed machine assisted breathing which
they did not have.
And yes Mr. President,
Universal
Health Care is a
lofty goal to pursue
but why don’t
we just start with
adequate free medical
cover for the elderly,
the disabled
and those living
in absolute poverty.
Next pay them
a livable monthly
stipend since most
of them are sick
because they are
hungry.
When people avoid being tested and actively
campaign against testing because
of financial considerations then it puts
the government containment strategy at
risk. The government needs to find a humane
and viable way to deal with public
safety and health.
By now he was so tempted to just drive to
Mbagathi and resign to whatever was the
outcome but he could not wish away the
reality that this had now become as much
a financial scare as it was a health scare
and it required rational planning.
He called a few friends who informed
him that there were pretty good health
facilities that had mushroomed in South
C area which were well equipped. He put
John, who was by now loudly whizzing in
the car and drove to South C and indeed
he had a choice of very organized health
outlets.
John was admitted straight to a HDU
unit and they started running tests to
determine what was amiss. As it turned
out John had a severe allergy attack and
by the evening of the next day he was out
of hospital and back home. But this is not
the point of the piece!
When the government puts in place
measures that seem to punish citizens for
falling sick then you can expect people to
behave in irrational ways. Fighting this
corona virus requires vigilance from all
citizens so when they conspire to defeat
the system it becomes counterproductive.
We shudder to imagine what if John
actually had Covid-19 and the devastation
it would have wrecked while his otherwise
sensible family was attempting to avoid
draconian measures the government has
implemented to fight the virus.
When people avoid being tested and
actively campaign against testing because
of financial considerations then it puts the
government containment strategy at risk.
The government needs to find a humane
and viable way to deal with public safety
and health.
In South C there are at least ten medical
facilities that were originally residential
houses. As impressive as this may sound
it is a harsh indictment on our national
health system which has failed hence
enabling healthcare to be a lucrative
private business rather than a public
service to citizens.
The family described above is a well to
do middle class one so we leave it to your
imagination how the scenario will play
out in the informal dwellings. The country
simply has no safety net for its citizens.
The most vulnerable members of society
are usually the poor and the elderly.
And yes Mr. President, Universal Health
Care is a lofty goal to pursue but why don’t
we just start with adequate free medical
cover for the elderly, the disabled and
those living in absolute poverty. Next pay
them a livable monthly stipend since most
of them are sick because they are hungry.
Taxpayers will gladly pay taxes that are
used in such a socially responsible manner
rather than stolen and squandered by
political henchmen. It would also put a
refreshing new meaning to the KRA slogan
that ‘Kulipa Ushuru Ni Kujitegemea’.
The two things that the pandemic has
taught us is that we had better review our
health infrastructure and policies and that
the lack of a social safety net just makes it a
lot harder for citizens to behave rationally
and help the government manage a crisis.
Harambees, food packs and essential
supplies from well-wishers cannot be the
primary response to national disasters.
The Red Cross appears more organized
than the government when it comes to
responding to calamities. While the virus
is threatening, locusts and floods are
lurking in the wings!
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