The approach that has been used to address the fuel crisis can also be applied to healthcare.
Whereas those who can pay for healthcare should pay, those who can’t should be supported through approaches that pillar on the concept of “from each according to ability, to each according to need”.
This mapping would require a socio-economic assessment of the populace in order to clearly identify those who require a financial injection from the government to address their healthcare needs.
In the recent past, Kenya has experienced an acute fuel shortage across the country. This has resulted in runaway fuel costs, long queues at petrol stations and a ripple rise in prices for other commodities such as food and services such as transportation.
The government has responded to this melee by injecting close to 35 billion Kenya shillings to offset subsidies owed to fuel marketers. This is poised to address the fuel crisis by lowering the eventual cost that is passed to consumers.
In healthcare, this cost crisis is still persistent despite years of various attempts to address it. It is not uncommon to witness long waiting queues in public hospitals as patients wait to receive clinical services.
This is characterized by long waiting lists for patients seeking to undergo diagnostic procedures such as MRI scans or curative surgeries. It is also not uncommon for patients to be slapped with hefty inpatient bills following life-saving interventions such as major surgeries and needing to settle this out of pocket.
Also, it is not uncommon for patients to suffer life-long ripple consequences of such healthcare-related expenditure. These are referred to as impoverishing or catastrophic expenditure.
The approach that has been used to address the fuel crisis can also be applied to healthcare. This underpins a need to map out the citizenry and identify indigents who would require financial support from the government to address their healthcare needs.
Whereas those who can pay for healthcare should pay, those who can’t should be supported through approaches that pillar on the concept of “from each according to ability, to each according to need”.
This mapping would require a socio-economic assessment of the populace in order to clearly identify those who require a financial injection from the government to address their healthcare needs.
As this occurs, it would be important to address capacity gaps in public healthcare facilities by availing the necessary human resources and medical technologies required to provide clinical services.
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