The Problem of Communications in Medical Practice in East Africa

Abstract

PERHAPS it is salutary for those of us who live in the luxury of Nairobi to consider for a moment the fi\edical problems at the periphery. It goes without question that the centre has to be built up first in order to train staff for the district hospitals; Kenya cannot afford to do everything at once and we must accl .1is as a priority in this stage of our development-hence the development of our University and the extensions to the Keny~tta National Hospital. Health has never been considered a priority, either pre-or post-independence, and therefore the proportion of the budget spent on the health services is still small. You cannot eat health and you cannot sell or export it and therefore the economists have managed to persuade the politicians that it has a low priority. Education, Agriculture, Communications and even the Tourist Trade are rated higher, and indeed it is arguable that this should be so for the present. Little notice is taken of the argument-admittedly difficult to prove-that production would go up if we had a healthier population. However, unless we produce more we shall not be able to pay for the social services for which everyone is clamouring. What are the problems at the periphery and to what extent do communications add to the difficulties?