On Tuesday, October 7, a group of courageous and stoic cancer patients, at different stages of treatment, held a demo to bring attention to the silent pain they face and the financial struggles they endure.
They presented a petition at the offices of the Social Health Authority.
Before the dissolution of the National Health Insurance Fund, most cancer patients would be allocated Sh600,000 a year as cover for the tortuous treatment.
But one year ago, SHA was unveiled and has been widely touted as a new funding model that has lifted the burden off the backs of families struggling to keep afloat.
SHA might be doing a great job settling bills for other ailments, but cancer is a totally different kettle of fish. It’s an extraordinary disorder that needs an extraordinary response.
But instead of SHA providing enhanced cover, the annual cancer cover has been reduced to Sh400,000 per household.
This, no doubt, is a silent death sentence because a large majority cannot afford treatment in private hospitals.
SHA decides whether they live or die.
Patients must never be made to kowtow to insensitive bureaucrats. Health is a right.
The bureaucrats must move with speed and do the right thing.
Quote of the day: “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” —American author and journalist Ernest Hemingway visited fellow writer Pío Baroja at his hospital bed on October 9, 1956, shortly before the Spaniard’s death
