MWANGI: Does anyone care for the health, education of the poor anymore?

MWANGI: Does anyone care for the health, education of the poor anymore?

A strike by Kenyan doctors that is now well into the second month has paralysed most hospitals across the country, dividing citizens on the wisdom and ethics of allowing health professionals to engage in industrial action.

Critics of the doctors have pointed out that health being a life-and-death matter, doctors should not be allowed to endanger the lives of their patients by engaging in strikes and go-slows. It is acknowledged that the security services, too, are not entitled to strike – which in their case would be taken to be a mutiny.

But it is often overlooked that doctors – like other cadres of workers and professionals – have been given a raw deal. The case of medical professionals is particularly sad when their remuneration is compared to those of other professionals, say lawyers, who did not take as long to study for their professions at university. While judges and pilots smile all the way to the bank, highly trained medical specialists such as paediatricians, heart surgeons and urologists earn a pittance.

But then judges make decisions on matters affecting the businesses and fortunes of the high and mighty. There is a direct impact on society that can readily be seen. Pilots, too, affect the bottom line in the crucial tourism sector and international travel.

A doctor helping mothers from low-earning families deliver in a public hospital isn’t thought of in the same terms. The political class can easily ignore their plight – and that of similarly-placed professionals such as teachers.

And that is the tragedy of misplaced priorities by the elites in East Africa. A strike involving bankers or pilots would have raised concern at the highest levels and their grievances addressed within the shortest time possible; not so for professionals in social services.

But no country can develop without first taking care of social services, principally health and education. A vibrant education sector produces the engineers, architects, scientists and business gurus that become champions in their own industries. Demoralise teachers, and you have killed the hopes and future of a whole nation.

Health, too, is fundamental to economic activity. An ailing population can hardly give their best in terms of productivity. When the health of the poor ceases being a priority for any nation, as seems to be the case in East Africa today, millions of people are consigned to stay in poverty without any possibility of escaping their fate.

That fate is more than sealed, moreover, by the neglect of the education sector. When Kenyan teachers went on strike in the run-up to the 2015 national examinations, the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta applied every form of pressure while hardly giving any incentives to the demoralised teachers. The end result has been a near-collapse of the education sector, all the way from primary to university level. Today, every parent who can afford it takes children to private academies and colleges.

It is now apparent that the Kenyan government intends to wear out the doctors in a long-drawn dispute, never mind the lost lives of the poor who cannot afford treatment in private hospitals. By the end of it all, more doctors would certainly have left for greener pastures abroad, and the ones remaining will be a demoralised lot.

When former president Mwai Kibaki – who at one time served as health minister – fell sick and had to undergo cardiac treatment, he was quickly flown to South Africa. Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto was also flown to South Africa after being injured on the nose during demonstrations last year. Their actions are in sharp contrast to Tanzanian President John Magufuli, who showed his solidarity with the people by getting his wife admitted to the public Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam last year.

But why should leaders prefer to fly to South Africa, Britain or the United States for treatment rather than develop their own health infrastructure and expertise? What pride is there in being a perpetual beggar? The short-sightedness of regional leaders becomes truly amazing, whereby they think it is something to be proud of to be seen off at the airport when going abroad for treatment, when in actual fact they should be hiding their heads in shame.

Every year, millions of dollars is spent across the region to send the sick to hospitals in India, South Africa and elsewhere. These many fundraisers would be unnecessary if only health and education were prioritised. But is East Africa ready to tackle the problems afflicting these key sectors?

 

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