A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ACCESSIBILITY

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ACCESSIBILITY

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Kenya's population is rapidly increasing, yet more than half of the country's people are poor (Tumbo-Oeri, 2000). People who live in poverty do not have enough money to meet their fundamental necessities of food, drink, and shelter. As a result, these are the ones that rely on government health-care subsidies the most. Unfortunately, they encounter several impediments to getting health care and, as a result, typically receive inferior care than the minority wealthy population (Allotey et al 2012).

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is the major body in charge of Kenya's health-care system. It establishes health-care requirements and plays a significant role in establishing health-care staff guidelines (Godia et al, 2013). There are three primary sectors in health care: the public sector, which includes all government-owned health care facilities, the private sector, which includes private persons and institutions, and non-profit organizations, which include churches that operate non-profit health care facilities (Toda et al, 2012).

Kenya's 44 million people are served by about 4,700 health-care institutions. More over half of Kenya's population are served by the public sector, which accounts for around 51% of all health-care demands. The reason it takes precedence over the private sector is that the government-owned health-care facilities are more affordable to Kenyans since the costs are heavily discounted and some treatments are provided for free (Toda et al, 2012). The Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi and the Moi Referral and Teaching Hospital in Eldoret are the country's two national referral hospitals, both of which are government-owned. The focus of this article is on government-owned health-care institutions (public sector).

Due to Kenya's large population, the government has attempted to establish parity in the health-care system in order to efficiently alleviate human suffering and enhance individuals' lifestyles (Toda et al, 2012). Many variables plague Kenya's medical system, making access to and delivery of health care challenging. Poor governance, an overreliance on donor finances, corruption, nepotism, residents' traditional and cultural views, a lack of a medical file system, inefficient infrastructure, huge poverty, and illiteracy are among these problems (Allotey et al 2012).

Agriculture is one of Kenya's key economic activity that generates significant cash. This is a highly physical labor that demands a high degree of productivity, and effective health care for her population provides high production at work, reducing poverty.

Proper health care is critical for decreasing poverty and boosting economic growth since, as it is, residents' overall ill health is making Kenya poorer. Most individuals are unable to obtain sufficient medical treatment, causing them to miss work for extended periods of time. Long sick absences have a negative impact on economic growth (Godia et al, 2013).

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a collection of worldwide goals aimed at improving health and improving human existence. Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are related to improving human health care. The three objectives are to improve maternal health, reduce child mortality, and improve HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other disease prevention and control. Kenya is confronting the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and malaria is one of the country's major causes of death. Mother health has a lot of potential for improvement if we want to minimize newborn mortality and maternal fatalities.

The disparity between the rich and the poor in Kenya exemplifies the lack of access to health care. The wealthy may pay a premium to have their health care requirements fulfilled effectively and quickly, but the poor have little choice except to take whatever treatment they are given, at whatever time it is given (Allotey et al 2012). The poor majority's health care is severely harmed by the extreme favoritism shown to the wealthy minority.

In a research done in Kenya's rural districts in 2007, connecting poverty levels to geographical factors, the poverty rate was reported to be 45 percent. According to the research, over half of Kenya's 44 million people live on less than a dollar each day. This is the same as living on Sh105 a day in Kenya (Okwi et al, 2012).

Corruption is one of the most serious issues confronting Kenya's health-care system. Corruption in the health sector takes many forms, including officials embezzling funds set aside for the sector or individual personnel accepting bribes in the form of money, as well as inequitable distribution of health care services and goods, such that the poor majority do not receive all of the medical attention, services, and goods that the wealthy in the same ward do (Allotey et al 2012).

This attitude and inequality have an impact on the efficacy, accessibility, quality, and quantity of health care provided to sick people. As a result, the cost of health care for the poor rises since staff do not give them the attention they require and may overlook critical facts about the patients' health changes, while the amount of services provided decreases.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Many issues impede the Ministry of Health's ability to legislate for and ensure the provision of adequate levels of quality health care in its facilities, including underfunding of health facilities, insufficient capacity of public health care systems, lack of amenities, insufficient staffing, and archaic health laws (Godia et al, 2013). As a result, major health indices have reversed, and health improvements made since independence have been lost. In response to these difficulties, the Ministry of Health developed a national health strategic plan that includes priority packages for the population (Republic of Kenya) (Toda et al, 2012). The quality of health care continues to degrade as the Ministry of Health implements the packages at all three levels of the health care system, i.e. primary, secondary, and tertiary. The challenges have been exacerbated by the rising prevalence and incidence of HIV/AIDS, as well as the complications and consequences that come with it. The restricted inpatient capacity, with an AIDS patient bed occupancy rate of above 50%, is a severe issue. Furthermore, the duration of stay for AIDS patients is typically longer, further limiting precious resources and influencing admission of patients with other illnesses (Allotey et al 2012).

Despite these limitations, the community makes extensive use of public health care services, however patients continue to utilize the mission and private health care services for acute situations, claiming quality as the primary reason. This is in line with data that revealed a fall in the proportion of people utilizing public health facilities as a result of the cost-sharing scheme (Mwabu et al 1995). The government has a policy on enhancing access and quality of health care, according to the materials analyzed, but the impacts of that policy (access and quality) on health care usage are unknown.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to get sufficient information on the transparency and accessibility of health care in Kenya. This in turn will help create awareness of the challenges faced by Kenyans in relation to accessing and receiving health care and enlightenment on ways to better improve the health care sector.

The purpose is to contribute awareness of the benefits of improving health care provision to the Kenyan people as well as proper medical record storage which will be a step closer to efficient health care in Kenya.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To achieve the aim and purpose of this study, it is necessary to answer the following research questions:

1. What is the current situation on healthcare accessibility in Kenya?
2. What are the benefits of introducing a computer -based system in the Kenyan health sector?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The administration of various hospitals at various levels of health care delivery would benefit from this research. The findings will also aid in making patient-centered health policy decisions rather than ones based only on facility administrators' perspectives. Patients, on the other hand, will gain since their real requirements will be considered in healthcare decision-making, ensuring that treatments are tailored to match their demands. Improved service quality leads to better treatment, which should result in lower rates of morbidity and death. The findings will also be useful to other academics and researchers.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study on the accessibility of health service in Kenya will carried out in the Kenyan health sector.

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