WHO: Ignoring slums is courting future trouble

By ELIZABETH MWAI

About 10 per cent of births in the slums are handled by Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs).

The cost averages Sh1, 000 that can be paid in small amounts.

Incidentally, a similar amount is charged in public hospitals, particularly at the provincial level, while at the district level, maternity fees range between Sh400 and Sh600, inclusive drugs, unless it is a Caesarean section operation.

This might sound as fairly affordable. But for slum dwellers, where unemployment is nearly 80 per cent, even such modest fees is still be out of reach to the majority.

The World Health Organisation country director Dr David Okello estimates that about one third of Nairobi’s four million people live in slums.

Hence the need to tackle the health challenges associated with urbanisation that leads to mushrooming unplanned settlements.

"If we do not plan and we continue to ignore what’s happening in slums and behave as if they (slums) do not exists, we are headed for a crisis," Okello cautioned.

The WHO country boss said urban poor suffer disproportionately from a wide range of diseases and related social problems.

Okello called on the Government to improve health facilities in urban setting and improve the quality of life in informal settlements.

Pointing out that virtually all population growth over the next 30 years will be in urban settings, Okello argues that improving urban health does not necessarily require additional funding but efficiency in use of available resources.