We have seen lecturers, teachers, nurses and now doctors in all
levels (interns, registrars, MOs, and doctors themselves) strike for
better working conditions and better pay. But why do doctors have to
fight for their pay yet no one can work for free? Has society and
culture made us feel that wanting to earn a living should dictate our
choice of profession? The so called “noble” professions are seemingly
not so any more. They more than most are repeatedly taking to the
streets demanding better pay and improved working conditions. “Who is to
blame?” we ask; and then we quickly point fingers at each other. The
Ministry of Medical Services wants Kenyans to perceive it as immoral and
selfish for doctors to go on strike. In my point of view, there are two
ways to look at it:
1. Either our society had become so materialistic that it reflects
clearly on these professions OR 2. The leadership of our country is
becoming questionable in its priorities regarding public interest.
OUR GOVERNMENT’S EXTRAVAGANCE
So maybe doctors are being immoral and selfish. But if doctors are as
we judge them, could it not be that it is because of what our leaders
expose us to as a nation: Ksh. 400 million vice-presidential mansions,
gas guzzlers whose weekly fuel needs could power a small village for a
day or twenty, exotic vacations at the sunniest sandiest resorts at the
coast, Ksh. 200,000 seats – that are used for only a few hours every
week… And as if to mock our collective intelligence, the speaker of the
National Assembly goes ahead to say that MPs should receive a salary
increment because they are “…paid peanuts…” Such extravagance is not
just limited to the august house. At the recently concluded London
Olympics, Kenya sent 32 world-class Olympians- whose glory was then
watered down by a whopping 200 officials in the name of support. Said
supporters were nowhere to be seen when our sportsmen and women needed a
much needed morale boost. In fact, the officials
apparently travelled earlier to Bristol leaving a part of the team
behind training. If provided with this evidence, and that of the
countless scandals through which our leaders have siphoned off billions
of taxpayer money, the average Kenyan would infer that there is in fact
more than enough money to cater for the needs of this country, or that
the little that should get the job done is being stolen as they watch.
In light of the government’s extravagance I am forced to ask myself
whether the priorities of the government are in the right place.
THE LONG AND TEDIOUS JOURNEY OF A MEDIC
Currently the longest undergraduate degree to qualify for in Kenya is
the medical one. It takes 6 years for one to become a general
practitioner, who while very capable of addressing a majority of
ordinary health concerns, has no capacity to deliver specialized care.
For one to acquire specialist skills takes another 4 – 5 years of
post-graduate training (compare with 3 – 4 years undergraduate degree
training and 2 years post graduate training in most other disciplines-
with the option of working, since most of these programs are evening
classes).
In Kenya, admission to a post-graduate program in medicine requires
at the very least, an impressive academic record and excellent clinical
skills. In Kenya, one must either be government or self-sponsored. To
receive government sponsorship, one must work for at least 2 years in
the public sector before being considered eligible.
After having spent 6 years in undergraduate training, a 2 year hiatus
followed by 5 more years of intensive full-time training might appear
too great a sacrifice. This, together with the competitiveness of
earning government sponsorship (and the demand for specialists) leads
many a student to choose to fund their postgraduate training. Once
admitted, the registrar- as the post-graduate student is now called;
begins a journey of apprenticeship and ceaseless practice. Inasmuch as
they are taught through instruction and demonstration, a large part of
the learning experience at this level is practice. In simple terms,
registrars perform most of the procedures in teaching hospitals. In
spite of the patient being charged for these procedures, the registrars
receive no pay for the service they render.
In total, one will spend between 11 and 13 years between beginning
medical school and becoming a specialist in a medical field in Kenya.
During this time, one- who might be married and have started a family-
will not have earned a single cent from applying their skills.
But enough of all this immorality and selfishness- wherever it may
come from. Something is a-festering somewhere methinks, and someone
should attend it soon.
A BIG PROBLEM
In the recent months, we have seen how much more it would cost us if
Kenya failed as a nation. In Mombasa, the youth –turned mercenaries-
resorted to treasonous acts and hurled grenades at their countrymen. The
very fabric of patriotism unravelled as they kissed the foreign hand
that fed them, and bit the cruel hand that bred them. It is said that
their thirty pieces of silver were a paltry ten dollars per grenade.
Everywhere in Kenya these past two weeks, doctors, teachers and
lecturers have abandoned their posts in actions that popular opinion
would call heretical. Apparently, the care of the sick and the education
of a nation’s youth cannot be abandoned at any cost. Apparently also,
patriotism and all things black, red and green are immutable,
blood-borne and forever. Why then are our young people so easily sold to
the enemy? Why then are the most noble of our public servants so ready
to leave their posts? If the government will not respect a (self)
empowered group such as lecturers, doctors and teachers- in terms of
education level, work ethic in building the society and appreciation by
the society; how much less can they care about as vulnerable a group as
the youth who unfortunately may not have the same opportunities? It goes
beyond just immoral and selfish medics Mr. Nyong’o. It goes down to the
fundamentals of the government that you represent to protect the rights
of its honorable citizens. And so we are frustrated and angry and
abandon principle.
Is there a country in the world that doesn’t pay its registrars? In
Malawi, interns are given free housing. Hasn’t Rwanda, a country that is
yet two decades old from being war torn, ensured that they treat the
healthcare industry much better? Aren’t there on going, serious
violations of rights to health (especially maternal and child health) in
Kenya due to its policies- perhaps the reason why the country’s
maternal and under 5s mortality rates are barely improving? Of poor
policies, hadn’t our current National health policy become outdated in
2002? It is the job of the government to spearhead these policies. There
are not enough pediatricians and obstetricians (both post graduate
degrees) at rural levels yet Mr. Nyong’o can’t help but fire those in
training. Instead, isn’t it only rational to motivate Kenyans to empower
themselves into taking up these responsibilities? They want it to seem
that healthcare practitioners issue threats, yet, it is them who
passively threaten everyone.
Private Doctors are concentrated in major cities of Kenya. There is a
siege of highly qualified doctors in the environs around Kenyatta
National Hospital (still a result of poor government policies). They are
operational. Maybe this is the reason why Mr. Nyong’o is not shaken. He
either visits these doctors or flies off to America for treatment.
Never the government hospitals he represents. What does that say of his
faith in a Ministry he heads? Can it be he asks himself for what reason
is there to educate our own if the policies the Ministry
made aren’t meant to function? Leaders lead by example- it is implicit.
Can we really afford to be led to follow considering the evidence that
the government’s priorities are not in its people’s welfare?
No matter which way one looks at it Mr. Nyong’o, governance is to
blame. I only have two questions for you Mr. Minister: If you had the
choice of picking any government profession in the current situation of
our country (on condition that you are not to pick your current one).
Which one would you? Would you then be ecstatic and thrilled to build
the nation for free?
Association of Medical Students of the University of Nairobi (AMSUN).
How
many times have patients remained in the wards with no diagnosis on the
cancer that's eating them away since they are not able to afford the
cost of histopathology in Private Labs? How many times have I seen
patients flush biopsies 
parent?
Yes.. One too can be a citizen of Kenya through registration. Where
then are those like us bred in Kenya for more than 25 years? What of
those born and bred in Kenya? Where do we come in? Are we not entitled
to being citizens of the only home we have known despite the fact that
our parents are not Kenyans. Why is it that its no longer convenient for
AFYA HOUZ to pay so called refugees???””