19.0 HEALTH SERVICES
The Democratic Party of Kenya believes that a Country’s productivity is dependent on healthy people. A healthy population implies that available resources would be used in productive activities rather than being used for health care delivery. Healthcare remains a serious factor of impoverishment in Kenya due to extant high poverty levels, currently at 46%. Health is widely understood to be an important outcome of development and therefore the role of good health in promoting economic development and poverty reduction must be appreciated. Consequently Kenya requires a well articulated, targeted and managed health sector policy characterized by a clear, predictable, and practical policy framework
While there have been improvements in provision of health services particularly in the last four years, some challenges remain. These include: high costs of medical care, emphasis on curative as opposed to preventive health care, rise in child mortality, the ratio of medical personnel per 100,000 is still below the international standards, poor environmental health sciences, prevalence of malaria and other diseases in the respiratory system and poor health facilities and inadequate community involvement in the management of health facilities. The DP Government will give priority to the coverage and accessibility of health services-both preventive and promotive health services. However more emphasis will be accorded to promotive/preventive services. Inorder to improve the delivery of health services the DP Government will undertake the following:
1. Expand the production of adequate and appropriate learning materials.
2. Increase investments in the health sector evolve and develop Regional Health Authorities
3. Continue fighting malaria, tuberculosis and other major diseases by p providing free medicine.
4. Continue research for cure of terminal diseases
5. Increase funding to the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)
6. Build medical infrastructure and rehabilitate existing ones especially in the rural areas
7. Build technical and human resource capacity in all health institutions
8. Establish a Medical Insurance Scheme for all Kenyans
9. Enhance community participation and role in the development and management of the local level health facilities
10. Develop Regional specialized centres of excellence and reduce duplication of capacities and capabilities
11. Review the current outdated Public Health Act and make it relevant
12. Enhance community participation in development and management of local level health facilities while the Central Government focuses on National policy development, development of standards, resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation together with maintaining internationally acceptable standards.
13. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education enhance health and nutrition status for children aged 3-6 and intensify school feeding programmes in the ASAL districts
14. Rehabilitate and increase morgue facilities in all public hospitals and build where they do not exist and ensure free body preservation for atleast seven days in the public mortuaries
15. Establish a programme to care for terminal disease patients.
19.1 HIV/AIDS and Development
The DP founding Chairman, HE the President has declared HIV/AIDS a National Disaster. The HIV/ AIDS pandemic is the most serious disease facing the Country with implications beyond the health sector. The spread of the HIV/AIDS has affected the socio-economic development of the Country as it affects almost all the sectors of the economy. The spread of the disease has become a development crisis as it continues to increase the levels compounded by poverty in the Country. It has destroyed the socio capital productivity, weakened the institutions and left many orphans. The HIV/AIDS has further reduced the life expectancy and increased infant mortality. The diseases is no longer just a health problem but has affected economic socio and cultural dimensions.
While the Government has continued to control the HIVAIDS with policies as contained in Sessional Paper No. 4 of 1997 on the National AIDS Policy and the establishment of the National AIDS Control Council, Kenya’s health facilities have been overstretched by the pandemic. The families are overburdened financially in the care of those affected by AIDS disease. The disease has affected industrial commercial and agriculture sector, in Government and private sector because trained manpower have died while others have lost their jobs due to constant absenteeism. Inorder to reduce and prevent infection of this deadly disease the DP Government will undertake the following measures:
1. Ensure coherent and flexible support to the multi-sectoral effort in fighting AIDS
2. Build implementation capacities among non-Governmental organizations and churches as part of combined response to AIDS control.
3. Target 15-24 years old to ensure a sustainable human capital formation
4. Gender mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS interventions as women are more likely than men to contract HIV.
5. Establish a programme to care for HIV/AIDS and other terminal disease
6. Build capacity of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) to intensify research into drugs to cure the HIV/AIDS.
7. Promote HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness.
8. Private sector organizations to establish HIV/AIDS programs in their companies.
9. Enhance support for AIDS orphans , and care for victim children
10. Expand the Industrial Property Act to allow for licenses for pharmaceutical manufacturing companies to locally produce drugs that are cost effective and affordable.
11. Improve the care for the effected and infected