Increse commuity awareness on right to health

HERAF increases community awareness of the right to health by developing and disseminating IEC materials with information on right to health. Such IEC materials include fact sheets, fliers and newsletters. They define human rights, give examples of human rights and explain what is meant by the right to health including roles and responsibilities of duty bearers (Government of Kenya) and the right holders (citizens) in realizing and achieving the right to health.

“I have never thought that human rights can be presented in such a simple and easy to understand language but I am grateful to HERAF for the very simplified version of health and human rights. I can now be able to share the information with other members of my community. HERAF should continue providing us with more information on the right to health. I now know what to expect from the government when it comes to my health.”  - Comment by a participant from Nyeri North District on reading IEC materials developed by HERAF.

We enable community members to understand the link between human rights and health, the right based approach to programming and also the roles and responsibilities of the government and that of the citizens in promoting health.

“I always looked at human rights organizations as violent organizations that are always in the streets protesting and blaming the government for everything that is wrong in the country. I now have a different view since HERAF has taught me about human rights and how they are related to health. I have learnt that the government and I both have a role to play in promoting my health. I have also been able to interact with the managers of health within my district. I will share the information obtained here with my fellow community members.” Participant – Kwale District

The introduction of human rights trainings at the grassroots levels was initially treated with caution by DHMT at the district levels. They expressed concerns that information and capacity empowerment on right to health could incite members of the community in the target districts to rise against the government. It latter emerged that such concerns are based on wrong premise that human rights organisations are always confrontational in their activities and always accussing the government including government officers of human rights violations. This perception was wiped out among the DHMT members by the approach used to inform and educate health care workers, health facility committee members, DHMT/B and general communities on right to health.  

“I have never seen a human rights organization that approaches the issues of human rights in such a good way bringing out the roles and responsibilities of everyone in the community. HERAF should organise more similar meetings and reach out to more government officials involved in health sector management”.

Discussions focus on how human rights are applicable in development programmes such as improving availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of health care services at the community levels. Among the issues addressed included participation of communities in the management and governance of public health facilities in Mbeere, Nyeri North and Kwale districts. The action strives to make members of the community aware of the existence of the health management committees, the roles and responsibilities of respective committees.

“This is the first time that I have heard about a health management committee. I’m surprised to know that the members of this committee are elected by the community members and that they are supposed to act as a link between the communities and the health system. I plan to hold them accountable to the decisions they make regarding the health of the community and ensure that they represent community interests in all their decisions.” CSO representative – Kwale District

Capacity Building

To improve community participation in health sector governance, HERAF conducts capacity training workshops for representatives from Village Health Committees, Health Facility Committees and DHMB/Ts.

“I really want to thank HERAF for organising such training. I am a chairman of a health facility committee. I was given an appointment letter telling me that I have been elected the chairman of the committee but no one told me what is expected of me or what my role is. All I do is sign for money to be used in the health facility but I never knew that I have a responsibility to make decisions and follow up on how the money is used. I now will be able to execute my roles as the chairman of my health facility committee and not just sign for money that I don’t know how it is used” -  Participant, Kwale District

Disseminating Ministry of Health Service Charter

HERAF disseminates the Health Service Charter to the community as a human rights tool that is useful in improving health services in public health facilities. The charter, is a statement of intent to its customers and defines the ministry, its core functions, the services it offers, its commitments, obligations, customer’s rights and obligations, mechanisms for forwarding and handling complaints. Through the IEC materials and community dialogue forums community members are able to have an understanding of what to expect from the government and health care workers and what is expected from them in regard to their health.

“I have always seen some writings on the entrance of my health facility but I have never taken time to read it. I thought that it contained information meant for the medics. I am so happy that today I have known what the poster is all about and what it has for me. I will now be able to demand for my rights based on that information. I will share the information with other community members so that they too are aware of what information the poster contains.” –Facility health committee member, Mbeere District

The charter facilitates community members to realize some of the human rights violations that take place in local health facilities and how community members can deal with such human rights violations. The most reported violations include delays before been attended to, lack of confidentiality, affordability, accessibility to health facilities, lack of drugs and in adequate information on available services.

“I never knew that I should be attended to within 10 minutes in a health facility. At times when I visit the health facility, the health workers are just idle and they take long before attending to me. From today, thanks to HERAF I will be demanding for my right to be attended to within the shortest time possible.” Participant – Mbeere District

The information on right to health has also opened the eyes of community members to realize that some of the human rights violations they encounter in health facilities are not entirely a failure of health care workers. For example it emerged that most of the health facilities in the 3 target districts lack adequate space threby compromising on the clients confidentiality.

“My health facility has limited space such that all the patients are treated in one room. This makes it very hard for anyone to be free to ask questions about what they are suffering from for fear of embarrassment as most of the other patients are neighbours.” Participant – Nyeri North District