[kictanet] Of Vision 2030 and Misplaced Priorities

[Solomon Mburu Kamau]

It's so sad that people are dying because of some negligence from the
people entrusted with providinng health care services.
In my view, therer are three social services that can be used to
measure how well the state cares for its citizenry: Relevant
Education, Ehhanced Security and Health Sector).

Our country's health system is, IMHO, in a deplorable situation. The
health practioners in the public sector make it look as though the
patient is a nuisance, while the private sector sees sickness as a
business boom/profit making opportunity.
In fact, a person feels guilty for being unwell because of the
ill-treatment from health practioners.

In order to promote health using ICT, there is a general need to
change in attitudes, especially from the health practioners otherwise
people will fear visiting health facilities due to these obvious
reasons.

On 05/06/2011, John Gachagua <gahnkib at yahoo.com> wrote:
> It is absurd to see what is happening to our health sector.
> My cousin died and we buried him three weeks ago, before that
> he had travelled to western,some members of the group he travelled with got
> malaria and were treated, so he bought anti malaria drugs and took. this is
> what happened,
> He collapsed and went into coma, somewhere in along jogoo road and we were
> notified, He was quickly rushed to Jamaa hospital, where he was put on
> antibiotics and upon no improvement transferred to Kenyatta hospital the
> following
> morning at 8am. Upon arrival we were stalled for two hours before being
> attended
> to, they took 1st blood for testing we were notified that CT scan
> for Kenyatta were not working and we were to take him to Nairobi West
> hospital
> for the Scans, we were back to Kenyatta at 2pm. Told to take the patient at
> casualties, we were the ones to push the stretcher, the 5th year
> students started writing their reports, Doctors came in and said the CT
> scans
> were all normal, the 1st blood test was not found and we were told a
> second blood test should be done, it would take 3hrs to 5hrs for results so
> we
> agreed to go do it on our own in private wing at doctors plaza, We are
> attended
> to by 2nd Doctor now, after it was done everything was found to be
> negative, so we are told blood from his fingers should be removed again we
> do
> it in less than 10 Mins. The 2nd doctor reviews everything and leaves;
> we are left with the medical Interns who are telling us all questions to be
> addressed to the doctors. Finally at  around 7pm 3rd doctor comes in and
> checks  does a few analysis asks us if he
> was in a  malaria prone area, checks the
> CT scan and agrees to admit the patient , He is put on quinine. We are told
> to
> take him to 8th floor to wing 8B.We push our patient to the elevator
> and take him there.  There we meet with a
> nurse who take the records, tells us we take clothes and blanket from the
> store, change him and put him in one of the rooms. We do so. They tell us
> visiting hours are between 12 and 2pm and 4 and 6pm and tell us to leave. We
> see
> him at 1pm and he has finished the quinine. Nothing else is done to him. The
> following day his brother comes to see him very early in the morning and
> only
> to be told he is dead.
> Cerebral Malaria is a very lethal form of malaria and kills
> within 3 days. When a patient dies of cerebral Malaria they won’t say he
> died
> of cerebral Malaria. They will say SEPSIS and then Say Swelling of Ménages
> or Encephalitis,
> which for my cousin’s case, cause of death was Encephalitis and Sepsis, when
> you research on, encephalitis can be caused by Malaria. So according to
> statistics when one dies of encephalitis in Sub-Saharan Africa what is the
> behind cause of the disease = MALARIA.
> The poor services offered at Kenyatta Hospital have been on
> the lime light, and it continues. If M-Health is developed the best place to
> try it is in a large medical institution but according to the current status
> of
> Poor services at Kenyatta will this succeed.
> Kenya is money minded Economy, Who will you find at Kenyatta
> casualties the CEO of m-Health or the poor Kenyan who cannot even afford to
> take
> blood to be tested at the private wing?
> What is the deal with Kenyatta Hospital referring people to
> Nairobi West Hospital for any Testing? Is there a profit sharing Business
> between the Public and the Private hospital?
> Have Kenyan Doctors gotten used to seeing people die that it
> does not surprise them?
> We can develop very good systems, the best just like m-pesa
> to be implemented to the rest of the world but will it work in Kenya with
> our
> NOT so Motivated Public Sector Doctors and Nurses and Hospital
> Administration?
> Why not get biochemical engineers to develop a genetic bomb
> for mosquitos, I say a Genetic Bomb as I love fish and I know they thrive on
> Mosquito Larvae, so why not modify them so that the next generation do not
> reach adult hood and the fish will eat them as larvae, this will still
> maintain
> the balance of the eco system and Have us eliminate the problem of ROMAN
> FEVER,
> AGUE OR MARSH FEVER?
> How many Empires, Human Era, or human Age Shall we allow
> Mosquitos to Destroy?
> If you read history of malaria, Apart from being an epidemic
> in sub-Saharan Africa, 500,000 American soldiers were infected with malaria
> during World War II and 60,000 died. It is documented that Malaria may have
> contributed
> to decline of Roman Empire.
> If Encephalitis (St Louis encephalitis) is the most common
> disease transmitted to humans by mosquitos in the United States and It has
> started occurring in Kenya, Are the concerned stake holders aware of this?
> Read “Why researchers can’t control Mosquitos, by Lee dye January
> 7 2006.” Abc News.
>
> Many people have thanked certain prominent people because of
> their quick support to cancer treatment and looking for funds to support all
> departments concerned with it. This wouldn’t be the case if they were not
> personally affected. A step is being made because am prominent, am a victim
> so
> am awakened to deliver this service, because I will be a beneficiary. “If it
> does not affect me or my wife or my daughter or son then let nature take its
> course. “Is a slogan that is used by Kenyans and more so the political and
> Elite.
> Am not shocked when people speak of Malaria killing people,
> there is no viable vaccine, Malaria is one of the oldest disease affecting
> the
> human species, it has been around for 50, 000, and it will be here till End
> times,
> It should have been included in the Revelations - with a light touch, last
> year
> (2010) it contributed to 2.23% of deaths around the world, the majority of
> deaths are young children in sub-Saharan Africa, while 90% of deaths occur
> in Sub-Saharan
> Africa.
> So what is Sub-Saharan Africa not doing that the rest of the
> world has done to curb this disease?(Answer is, When there was a wide
> fumigation campaign in India, Sri lanka and other prone areas in Asia and
> Africa
> was excluded completely,(Read CDC-Malaria-About Malaria - History). But
> Mosquitos are as important as Petroleum in this world. Without this mosquito
> Some Pharmaceutical companies would have closed. Departments of Donor
> Funding
> and Health Care Non-Governmental Organizations would have been shut down.
> That
> is why there will be no new Vaccine anytime soon. So as Children Die in
> Western
> and Nyanza region as well as other Sub-Saharan Countries there are people
> who
> know if this insects are eliminated then they lose their lively hood. If I
> was
> a Smart Investor in Donor Aid and wouldn’t want a region to Cut of my
> funding
> them then I would never eliminate the problem but nurse the wounds to the
> problem with drugs and other preventive care for a fee.
> So when people talk of E-Health program I get excited but
> does it apply on the ground?
> Because I believe for us to develop a good system we must
> create a Knowledge Base that is accessible then must train the medical
> practioners and educate the public. It comes down to Incident management,
> Event
> Management, Problem Management, Access Management. Measure of the effect of
> an incident,
> problem or event by urgency and Priority by the Medical Systems.
> Even if you develop an m-health application that has a service for Request
> for ambulance in case of emergency or Accident and it will involve
> paying via m-pesa, Even if I pay and it received at service desk and
> disbursed
> in this Kenya how long will it take to arrive at point of incident?
> Because am a jobless Kenyan, with a smart mind and am
> realistic, and cautious,I buy a cheap net, ensure I take anti malaria’s and
> avoid tarmacking in areas with suspicious pools of water puddles.
> Hoping the concerned parties will read this and make
> policies and legislation s. The best I can do is voice, but I have no
> economic
> power to go and fumigate western and Nyanza regions for free, am not the
> financial
> arm of the government is to disburse the budget nor the health arm to choose
> which between Yellow Fever,Cancer and Malaria will be my priorities,and for
> the wise you already know the answer.

-- 
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