Kenya has now confirmed a total of 270 positive cases of people who have contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and as Dr. Bosire Wairimu notes, should the curve continue to grow, Kenyans will not have enough clinicians to deal with the crisis laying bare Kenya’s frail health system.
Dr. Bosire who is a Kenyan physician and corporate executive, who serves as the executive director of the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) has revealed that every one doctor in the country represents 16,000 patients instead of the 1:300 as is required.
Every one nurse caters for 10,000 Kenyans instead of the required 83: 10,000.
https://twitter.com/Lasterbosire/status/1252095656992419841?s=20
These numbers were first revealed by the chief of staff in the Kenyan presidency who said the country’s doctor-to-patient ratio was one doctor to every 16,000 patients. “Our doctor-to-patient ratio remains 1 doctor to every 16,000 patients,” said the President’s Uhuru Kenyatta’s chief of staff.
“Unfortunately, [the doctor-to-population ratio] is a flawed metric,” the dean of the School of Medicine at Moi University in Kenya, Prof Lukoye Atwoli, however, says. “The ratio doesn’t reflect the geographical spread of doctors or whether they are in private or public practice. And not all doctors are able to provide the same service, as some may be specialists”
