Death of a doctor and the tragedy of a nation that long lost its soul

Dr Daniel Chacha died at Kenyatta National Hospital where he treated patients for free. [File, Standard]

A medical doctor who was pursuing a post-graduate qualification at the University of Nairobi campus at the Kenyatta National Hospital—where he treated patients for free—has died because he couldn’t access treatment.

There is so much elaboration needed, yet there is so little that we know, other than that the two government institutions have bickered about whose role it was to provide medical insurance for Dr Daniel Chacha, 37.

KHN says Chacha was not their employee, so he was not on payroll, and so his medical insurance was not provided by them. And without a card from one of those programmes rolled by the government (SHA or SHIF or SHAFT, or all combined) Chacha could not access treatment the he offered others.

So he went to private outlets on the fringe of the city where he could afford, but since all the specialists in the country are based at KNH, he was referred back to his place of work. Still, the ping-pong went on because he didn’t have medical insurance from the government, as are many Kenyans. He died soon after.

There is a sense that Kenyans have been desensitized to the plight of their compatriots, because simple matters can swing to life-threatening complications in the blink of an eye. Some people at KNH have some explaining to do. Why was somebody affiliated with the institution sent away without treatment?

Let’s concede Chacha did not have a medical insurance. Let’s concede he did not have the money for treatment. But he worked in that very facility, without pay. Isn’t there any possibility that treatment could have been provided and payment sought afterwards? Bure kabisa.