18 | Special Report
DAILY NATION
IS THIS A CURSE? >> Mother of four says distance and poverty have denied her sons medical care
Weldon Bosuben, 17, and Elkana Kibyegon, 10, at their home in Sugumerga in Bomet County in May. The boys have never been immunised and suffer from various health
problems. Right: 40-year-old Joyce Chesang’, whose four children are mentally ill, physically handicapped, have never been immunised and severely malnourished.
This family is living proof of
urgent need to devolve health
Joyce Chesang’ has four
sons who are all mentally
ill, physically handicapped,
are malnourished and have
never been immunised
BY EUNICE KILONZO
@eunicekkilonzo
Ekilonzo@ke.nationmedia.com
M
s Joyce Chesang’ has
four sons and all are
mentally ill, physically
handicapped, have never
been immunised and are
severely malnourished.
A social worker who found the children
abandoned by the roadside one day had
taken them to Longisa hospital but not
much could be done to remedy any of the
conditions they are suffering from.
This family, and many others in the
remotest parts of Kenya, are among those
that devolved health services was meant
to reach and help and give them a decent
chance at shaping their future.
The family has many challenges, and
being exposed to the vagaries of nature is
one of them. During the interview, Joyce
StateofHealth
had a cough. Her chest was wheezing.
Because none of her sons have never
been vaccinated, it is not surprising that
her first-born Weldon Bosuben, 17, has
poliomyelitis, a condition that makes him
heavily dependent on his mother. Pov-
erty has made his health condition worse,
largely because the family lacks enough
to eat, exposing mother and children to
malnutrition.
It is a “It is a curse that only God can correct,”
curse Joyce said about her eldest son’s condi-
that only tion. She never went to school.
When asked why she had not taken her
God can children to hospital, she said: “It is too far
correct” and I don’t have any money for fare.”
Indeed, Longisa County Hospital is
Joyce over 30 kilometres from her home. She
Chesang’
would need at least Sh500 to take any of
her children for treatment.
Her third son, Elkana Kibyegon, 10, is
stunted and like his brothers, has maras-
mus and pellagra, a condition caused by
lack of vitamins. Still, he is useful around
the house, even helping with the cooking
despite being hard of hearing.
His brother, Gideon Kipng’eno, 14, is
mentally ill. His head, neck and part of his
left shoulder are fused as a result of a fire
accident. He was too weak when the Na-
tion team visited their home because he
was recovering from a bout of diarrhoea.
PHOTOS | EUNICE KILONZO
His skin was dry and ashy, signs of dehy-
dration.
Joyce had heard from her neighbours
about the ambitious Sh38 billion medical
equipment project that had stirred contro-
versy between governors and the national
government.
She had also heard that Longisa County
Hospital would be among the institutions
Sh38bn
Cost of project for equipping county hospitals
with modern medical equipment
to benefit from the programme.
“I do not understand what the machines
will do. I am more concerned about food
for my children and blankets and soap.”
She and her family typify the glaring
health needs that the county governments
ought to be addressing; malnutrition, lack
of access to vaccination and lack of basic
knowledge and information that would
empower the people to take responsibility
for their health.
Monday July 20, 2015
A casualty
unit with no
night staff
The casualty unit at the Nanyuki
County Referral Hospital is only
operational during the day because
it does not have enough workers
for round the clock services.
The entire department has only
one nurse and one doctor. At night,
its functions are taken over by the
Out Patient Department.
According to the nurse, the
department handles about 12 pa-
tients per day. They are attended
to in order of priority, not by the
time they arrived.
“It is just me and the doctor
so when there are more than
two patients requiring help, we
have to prioritise care according
to whichever patient is in most
need,” she said.
Ideally, emergency care patients
should not have to wait because
they mostly check in presenting
with breathing problems or bleed-
ing from accidents. But compared
to the Embu hospital, patients in
Nanyuki are lucky to have the
emergency unit at all.
— Jacquiline Kubania
Few nurses toil
away at Bondo’s
delivery wing
The maternity room at the
Bondo Sub-County Hospital can
get desperate even in the best of
times.
When the Nation team visited
the room posing as visitors, there
was one nurse — whose name we
later learnt is Jacqueline Osido.
She was struggling to contain a
woman in labour who was running
round the room. And there was
another waiting at the delivery
table.
The nurse had a colleague to
whom she would turn for assist-
ance from time to time.
In just two hours, the two deliv-
ered three women successfully.
By afternoon, the two nurses
had delivered seven women be-
tween them. They had taken no
break for a meal and looked visibly
exhausted and irritable.
At this hospital,
‘free’ maternity
comes at a cost
Maternity services are free, but
expectant mothers seeking treat-
ment at the Coast General and
Referral Hospital have to buy
most of the things nurses need
for a successful delivery.
They also have to share beds,
due to the large number of expect-
ant mothers seeking to deliver in
government hospitals.
“Free is relative,” said a matron
at the hospital who sought ano-
nymity. “Expectant mothers buy
everything from cotton wool to all
essentials they need for maternity
services.”
The hospital is meant to ac-
commodate 700 patients but
on an average, it has over 1,000,
meaning that some of the mothers
have to share bed space.