The current times have been touted by some to be the best times ever in a lot of ways. The world is more interconnected than ever before, and new frontiers in technology are the norm. You will find advances in almost every aspect of human life. Mobile technology means we can do almost anything anywhere, and anytime.Think of how social media, virtual entrepreneurship, education, travel, entertainment and many other aspects of our lives have changed in almost unimaginable ways. The world of medicine has not been left behind.
Read more ..... Cherries are delicious and wild fruits that grow on trees. If you want to pick some cherries, you would normally select the ripest and the healthiest. And you want to expend minimal efforts, by picking the easier ones to reach, and possibly ignoring some juicier ones higher up the cherry tree. Few Nairobians realize that healthcare is to some extent similar to cherry-picking. Walk randomly into selected doctors’ offices, and this may become clearer. You are likely to see lots of smiley faces, not so sickly. More like ripe and juicy cherries. Ever wondered whether this happens by default, or by design?
Read more ..... Most of us have had reason to consult a medic for one reason or another. Sometimes it’s for trivial reasons, and other times it might be for some complex medical issues. The time you spend in any one consultation is variable, but likely very short. Questions are increasingly being asked whether doctors give patients enough consultation time, or are in a rush to see the next person waiting in the queue. A recent review has documented decreasing consultation times over the years. In the early part of this century, consultation times would span anywhere between 30 minutes to even an hour.
Read more ..... Picture yourself entering your doctor’s office with some mundane ailment. The doctor checks you over and comes up with a diagnosis that only requires simple remedies. But despite the doctor’s conviction that the diagnosis is correct, he or she orders a barrage of tests just to check that everything else is normal. Several tests and more bills down the line, you are back to square one. Nothing else is the matter, and the initial diagnosis and proposed remedies remain unchanged.
Read more ..... But health isn’t built in hospitals; disease is treated there. Health is built every day, over the course of a lifetime, in the places we work, and learn, and play, and pray, and love, and live. Or it isn’t. And if it isn’t, the “health care” system can’t fix it. It can’t make us healthy. It can treat disease, and often quite well. It can forestall death, and often impressively, if at high cost. But it can’t build health and vitality. That power resides with you.
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