Save And Reform Kenyan Health System

I believe that the more we keep quiet and do nothing to clamour for change of the way we are governed, the more the government will perpetuate the status quo. In healthcare the status quo is NOT an option. So I again have to revisit the way our health system is organized, run and managed. We need to reclaim our health system from the doldrums’. If only to serve as a social security support for when the population of the country ages and in need of more healthcare.

Further to my earlier assertions about the direction of the health system in Kenya. Am positive that had doctors been more concerned about engagement in the political process of shaping the new constitution at Bomas instead of busy saving Kenyan lives we would not have found ourselves in the current scenario. Policy making is as much a systematic, scientific process as much as it is a political process but knowledge  workers such as doctors do not see the need to be involved in the frivolity of it all. Guess what, they are wrong and that’s why decisions made by politicians and bureaucrats will heavily determine our destinies more than all the classes of anatomy and pathology attended.

Since there is always a time for second chances, I believe the dawn of the New Year and the campaigns and elections of 2017 should be the time to advocate for reforms in our health system. There is a need for all healthcare workers and Kenyans of goodwill to embrace health activism. Health activism is a cause that is spurred by passion and fueled by altruistic motives of the greater good. It is a broad concept of social awakening where the conscience will not give you respite from the knowledge that you could have helped but didn’t. And the more you escape into individual ambivalence, the more you shall regret not having done anything.

Lobby for Universal Health Coverage
We need to start a process of lobbying for the cause of #UniversalHealthCoverage and #Healthcarereforms. Specific actions in such cases could involve pressuring the politicians to take this cause up in the light of doctors’ strike and its likely impact on healthcare service delivery especially to the vulnerable members of the society. Concerted effort by activists passionate about the need for universal healthcare coverage and the need for improved management of the health system and the common man is all we need. Currently the first priority should be the call to end the doctors’ strike through implementation of the agreed upon CBA.

Advocate for Health reforms
Secondly we need to advocate for a reform of the health system either through a referendum during the election time or a call to the current government to have a consultative forum to discuss a national health system. A well run healthcare system with most minimal problems best works where the level of vested interest is minimal and the concerns of the majority dominates. Any vested interest would cringe at the thought of a national social health scheme or universal health coverage for all Kenyans. This is because the national health scheme would limit their influence.

Kenyans need to call for a better health system leadership. An emphasize on meritocracy at all levels and selection on the basis of ability and passion to serve should be all we call for. With this clear set-up of transparent body for the operations, spurred by a need to provide quality healthcare to the people with the sole intention being operationally efficiency and not greedy for profit or self engradisement , a national health jewel will be born. Such a system can work if we shed cynism and mistrust we have of one another and sit down to chart the way forward to free healthcare system molded on the National Health Service in the UK and other successful government funded health systems including the Cuban example.

For there to be effective healthcare reforms we have to listen to the healthcare personnel in their quest to offer better service to the people they took an oath to heal. Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has been vocal in bringing attention to the utterly deplorable conditions our health institutions are in. With their zeal to correct the ills of years gone by, the government will surely have to listen to. We also need to listen to varied opinions from people with expertise in various sectors of management, social services and the common man who will be most affected by the decisions made.

I am a rather naïve and Quixotic fellow, willing to believe in the power of the possibility of achieving much through altruism and empathy with actions that are not selfish in the least, if such a thing exists.To conclude I hope the venom of my anger is not all rage but useful in shaping a policy that can help this nation for now and eternity.