A woman is currently languishing in her pain after she was denied her right to access healthcare services by medical practitioners at Kenyatta National Hospital.
In a video that has since sparked anger among Kenyans, the unidentified patient’s sister is seen expressing her pain and frustrations after the lady could not be attended to for failure to pay Ksh1,950.
According to her sister, the lady spent a night in the cold as she waited on the nurses to attend to her.
They would later decide to leave the facility since the attendants insisted that she could not be treated before she pays the stated amount.
The patient, who is seen struggling to even stand as her sister narrated their anguish, is reported to have been diagnosed with cervical cancer.
In the video, the sister divulged that the patient has always been treated at the facility and she wondered why the doctors could not attend to her this time.
This lady was denied healthcare services at a public facility, Kenyatta Hospital because she couldn't afford to pay Ksh 1,950. She spent a night in the cold. @IGkimaiyo @fnoluga you work there? This is against the constitution, Article 43 (1)a @MOH_Kenya @thekhrc #SemaUkweli pic.twitter.com/ZLUxB1lld4
— Sema Ukweli (@SemaUkweliKenya) March 27, 2019
Read: KNH Nurses Complain Of Sexual Harassment From Patients Who Sneak In Drugs At Night
According to the Kenyan Constitution, every citizen has a right to receive the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care.
Additionally, Article 43(2) clearly states: “A person shall not be denied emergency medical treatment.”
This is reinforced by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s plan to ensure that every Kenyan is able to receive universal health care services as par his Big four agenda.
This unfortunate incident follows an expose that was recently aired on Citizen TV that revealed that Kenyatta National Hospital has been detaining women for failing to pay hospital bills.
The Ministry of Health has since formed a special team to probe the cases of patients who have been subjected to detention at the facility.
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