It is election time again and Kenyans will be looking this
December to usher in a new crop of leaders, a group that they hope will be more
sympathetic to their specific needs.
In hurriedly running through the manifestos of the major presidential hopefuls,
I have found them to be filled with the same old platitudes. Predictable
statements about infrastructure improvement are juxtaposed against the flavor
of the season, dreams of free high school education. There is even the
obligatory mention of women's equality, replete with dedicated seats in
parliament and the public service. One thing is glaring in its omission from
these lists, however, the issue of infirmity whether this is due to disability or old
age.
It is not just the political class that has been silent on this most important
matter. The peculiar plight of the disabled seems not to have impinged on the
national psyche either. Kenya has very few registered psychiatrists and the
hospital in Mathare is one of the few psychiatric institutions in the country.
The institution attracts little in the way of funding either from the Central
Government or from charities,and treatment regimes are as a result
sub-standard.
According to a colleague of mine, who worked in the Mathare mental health
institution, diagnosis of patients to determine whether or not admission was
necessary was determined by introducing them into a room that had metal balls
swinging from the roof. If the patient then did not move away from the swinging
balls, then he was deemed worthy of
admittance. This method if true, is symbolic of
great failure by the institutions management and of our general attitude
towards the mentally disabled. It is not uncommon either to see quadriplegics
struggle to gain entry into government buildings, negotiating steep staircases,
doors with locks and unhelpful bystanders.
Another group of Kenyans that suffers greatly from this breach of the norms of
a compassionate society are retirees, both those from the public and private sectors. With high inflation in the cost of every day items,
their already small pensions are not enough to live on. The indignity of having
to depend on family and friends is forced on them, a real tragedy considering
their long years of diligent service. Even worse, our high unemployment and the
cost of living for most Kenyans means that when these now elderly parents are
forced to rely on their children for basic subsistence, they become a burden on
an already stretched budget.
Current norms practised around the world have the elderly
get subsidized costs in many services offered to them, for instance
transportation credit, and discounts for meals in restaurants. It is vital now
that we too develop these standards and stop treating our elderly like lepers.
After twenty five years as a civil servant, my friend's mother, who was a
teacher suffering from a terminal illness could not afford her medical
expenses. Six years after her retirement, she lost her life as she could no
longer afford to pay her medical bills.
Young Kenyans who are in a position to change health and other benefits in
policy must urgently address this issue before they find themselves standing in a queue somewhere complaining about the maltreatment of the old.
A few
weeks ago, Dr. Sally Kosgey was in the news complaining about the manner of the ouster of Moi's regime and its
workers. Previously it was Gachoka MP, Joseph Nyagah, in the news whining
about his expulsion from an executive job at Kenya Airways . While these are
high profile Kenyans, who no doubt live much easier lives than that of the
average retired civil servant, their plight showed clearly just how adjustment
from a career can be. How much harder then for the common civil servant with 30
years government service under his belt? Why do civil servants have to
drive all the way to the city to collect their retirement checks when the administration
could send these remittances to their homes. Why is it so hard to collect
retirement benefits and why are some retirees denied retirement benefits
altogether? We must deal with this now, for soon it will be us in the
retirement queues.
As John F. Kennedy once said: The measure of a good country is how it treats
children, its aged and those who are physically or mentally disabled.
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I will be watching closely to see how much dialogue we get out of this article, because indeed, issues to do with disability of any form are very poorly addressed both at policy level and socially.
On mental illness, I can tell you with some confidence that we are a few light years, not just in Kenya but the world over in getting appropriate medications and technology to combat mental health issues, consequently, mental illness in its many forms has reached epidemic proportions and is set to overtake many degenerative diseases as a major contributor to disease burden in both developing and the developed world. By the way your friends account of the diagnostic techniques at Mathare was way off the mark and this is indicative of the stigma attached to mental illness and the sensitional myths that mentally ill people have to deal with.
Yes, we do have professionals at Mathare who use current techniques (DSM4 and ICD10) to assess and and correctly diagnose Psychiatric conditions. I am not saying here that patients there get excellent care and support at Mathare, far from it, I know conditions there are less than ideal, I hope talking about this will demistify disability and mental illness.
Like you, while I sympathise with Dr Kosgey and Bw Nyaga, their predicament does not trouble me, they just hopped out of the gravy train.... they must miss it.