Comments for Health Rights in Kenya

Comment on Health Action AIDS Itinerary – Tuesday, Nov. 13 by DeanSmith

DeanSmith — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:21:51 +0000

Hi my name is dean i am going out to kenya doing some organisation work with an ngo called kenya mind freedom i,am asking if there are any just graduated psychiatrists who might think of going out to kenya for voluntary work or nearly graduated please can you get back to me on this e-mail smithdean52@yahoo.co.uk thank you

Regards Dean Smith

Comment on Thoughts on Human Rights in Kenya: Human Capital is Key by Maggie Pitts

Maggie Pitts — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:03:17 +0000

Kimberly,
thank you for the contributions you make to people’s lives locally and around the globe – your work is important and people need you and others like you!

Comment on Kenya’s Health Rights Conference – Preparation by Pat Daoust

Pat Daoust — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:07:29 +0000

Sharon,

So glad you are part of the PHR delegation. Your experience and insights will be extremely valuable. I look forward to hearing how the conference goes as well as the site visits.

Good luck and again, thank you!
pat

Comment on The Theme for Me Today Is Choice by Jirair Ratevosian

Jirair Ratevosian — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:22:52 +0000

Hey Sarah, thanks to you and Lissy for all the amazing work you guys are doing. It’s been great to follow the goings-on via the blog.

Thanks especially for this great post. Your insights are refreshing and bring back some hard memories from my recent trip there. As you know, I was in Kenya in the beginning of 2006 to evaluate a Home Based Care program for a local reproductive health-focused NGO based in Kisumu. When I read your post about “choices”… it reminded me of the disparities I witnessed between rural and urban inhabitants of the district I was in. In rural areas such as Rongo and Sagam, patients we interviewed had different choices to make than those of urban areas within Kisumu. In rural areas, patients were further apart and in harder to reach areas than the urban villages of West Kolwa. The tough terrain and distance make transportation a major challenge for both the volunteer Community Health Workers and their patients living with AIDS. Many patients did not have the means to pay for travel to the local clinic hospital for their monthly ARV pick up and check up. When presented with a choice between paying for transportation or food…the choice, not surprisingly was always food. During our client interviews, I spoke to many patients who had stopped their drug regimen because they had no means to pay for transportation to the local hospital.

A key component in the fight against stigma, and in support of the empowerment of women and people with HIV in a rights based approach is the respect and status afforded by a career and living wage. Community Health Workers need to be empowered to work in the resource-poor setting they live in and adequate compensation is needed to attract and retain quality personnel. Giving salaries to Community Health Workers benefits the community they live in by providing a source of income for people who are often times poor themselves or are at risk of disease.

Thanks again for all that you are doing. Travel back safe and see you soon.

Comment on Greetings from Kenya by Karen Ivantic-Doucette

Karen Ivantic-Doucette — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:52:56 +0000

Dear Sarah,

As a PHR member, a long time AIDS activist and clinician I have been working alongside colleagues in Kenya and Uganda since 1995. I am thrilled to hear about the conference and will be joining your blog.

In 2004, the National Nurses Association of Kenya (NNAK) chartered an AIDS Nurses Chapter similar to the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care in the U.S. The chapter now has over 150 members and is providing leadership on HIV/AIDS policy, training and care for nurses in the country.

If they are not already participating in the conference I encourage you to meet with the leaders of the Chapter. These are some of the most commited men and women I have had the priviledge to meet and work alongside of and I am certain many of them would like to join efforts with HERAF.

Best of luck at the conference and thank you for the opportunity to participate online.

Karen Ivantic-Doucette, FNP, ACRN, AAHIVMS
Director of Health Programs
Be the Change, Inc

Comment on Greetings from Kenya by Richard Pierre Claude

Richard Pierre Claude — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:28:49 +0000

Hello Sarah, I am one of the Founding Board Members of PHR. I am a human rights specialist, not a health professional. I’m now a retired professor, most recently teaching “Science and Human Rights” at Princeton. When I quit college teaching, I decided to give my entire human rights library away (about 1000 books and journals), including some materials on the right to health. I gave it all to the Robert Kennedy Memorial Foundation and they in turn shipped it all to Nairobi to one of their awardees, Gibson Kamau Kuria, the 1988 RFK laureatte. Last year, he organized the “International Center for Constitutional Research and Governance,” open to NGOs and other interested human rights people. I suggest you look up the ICCRG and alert your people in Kenya that this resource is available to them, including my library which serves as the core of the human rights research materials. Warm best wishes, Richard Pierre Claude Ph.D.