MEDICAL CAMPS: WHEN TREATING THE BODY HEALS THE SOUL

Medical camps in Kenya are an old tradition. They come in all colors, shapes and sizes; organized by individuals, hospitals, churches, professional associations, non-governmental organizations, corporates and even politicians. Majority of camps are held as a corporate social responsibility and seek to provide care to the marginalized and disadvantaged who may not have access to health care. The cost of the camp is borne by the organizers.

I have participated in camps since I was a medical student as our medical student association partnered with many individuals and organizations to provide care to the remote rural populations of places like Pokot, Turkana and Mt. Elgon region; or with the urban poor in the slums around Eldoret town.

The medical school encouraged the camps as this was a way of teaching us to give back to society from an early age. Sitting on a primary school desk talking to a mother who is worried sick about her baby’s cough yet she cannot afford even the bus fare to the nearest dispensary and being able to help out felt quite satisfying. We would ride back to campus patting ourselves in the back for a job well done.

But as we got older in the training and started to attend to the patients in the teaching hospital, the harsh realities of the social effects on health seeking behavior became more apparent. A diabetic who would come to us in coma despite faithfully taking their insulin shots, just because they could not store the insulin properly for lack of refrigeration, causing it to expire. Or the hypertensive lady who missed her medication because she could not afford it as she spent all the money they had to buy pain medication for her husband’s arthritis. Or the little boy who comes in a sickling crisis because his cough was ignored for lack of money to seek treatment.

When we translated these realities to our camps, I would often ask myself whether it was worth writing a referral note for the lady with a breast lump. She has had it for months and only sought a consultation because it was free. Referring her simply meant I had sent her back home to wait for death to come. At that point, I made a conscious decision to only get involved in camps that had a well thought out end point for patients who were seen and required further care. That there was a plan to ensure they were supported in a system where financial constraints would not be the reason for going back to their lives dejected.

Camps that are organized by individuals or organizations with financial muscle will therefore always have an impact. Success stories such as the Amref fistula camps, repairing fistulae in women who have lost all hope of a normal life; the Operation Smile and Smile Train camps that repair cleft lip and palate, restoring smiles on the faces of the little ones; the Standard Chartered Marathon that supports eye surgeries, restoring sight to many who had lost hope; and many others, are a demonstration of just how critical it is to think through the financial aspect for purposes of holistic care.

In this vein, it was extremely exciting when the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union organized the first of seven medical camps to be held in seven prisons in Nairobi and its environs. In the spirit of giving back to the prisons that hosted the seven Union officials who were jailed by the industrial court during the protracted doctors’ strike in February this year, the camps were dubbed “Keeping the Promise”.

Dr. Daisy Korir, the Union treasurer, was incarcerated for two days at Lang’ata Maximum Women’s Prison. She was passionate about this camp. She had firsthand experience of what goes on behind those gates and she was determined that the Union would bring a ray of hope to those whom society had cast aside. Seeing the tearful reunion between her and her former cellmates was enough to make us understand why this had to be the flagship camp. Kamiti Maximum Prison will have to wait!

I was a happy participant because I have a lot of respect for the health system of the Department of Corrections in Kenya. Having spent my learning years in level six hospitals in Kenya, I interacted with prisoners all the time as our patients. The prisoners are regarded as property of the state and hence have all their medical bills taken care of by the Department of Corrections. I have met prisoners who did not look forward to their release because they were on cancer treatment and they knew very well that upon release, they could not afford to continue their chemotherapy.

It was a most amazing day. Our clientele got specialized treatment from physicians, ophthalmologists, dental surgeons, ENT specialists and gynaecologists. The babies (yes, there are over sixty babies in the prison aged between zero to three years) had their day with the paediatricians. We screened over 70 women for cervical cancer. It was such a relief knowing that anyone who required further care would certainly get it as all referrals made to Kenyatta Hospital would be followed up diligently by the prison medical team.

The Prison officials, led by the prison In-Charge, Ms. Olivia Obel, a woman with a huge heart of gold, showed us what true correction with love meant. The programmes that the prison runs for their clients (a dignified term adopted for the inmates to help restore their self-confidence) are amazing. We saw talent in yoga, dance, cookery, art and poetry that was unrivaled. Therefore, the Union’s gift of a Ksh. 100,000 modern digital public address system was extremely appropriate.

As doctors drove into Lang’ata Women’s Prison on Sunday 30^th July, they thought they were here to help alleviate pain and discomfort. At the end of the day, each one of us had a completely different outlook. Those we had set out to comfort, gave back tenfold in entertainment, food, a 22-kilogram cake, happy smiles and deeply grateful hearts. We had fraternized with women who are behind bars for various reasons but for that day, we were all one community. We went home with a huge dose of humility!