Habiba Mohamed

When she told her story, Habiba Mohamed was aged 30 years, had two children, and resided in Kibera, Nairobi. As environmental activist, her work involved promoting a technique that used solar energy to disinfect water and prevent waterborne diseases. This workearned her a small allowance which she depended on as her main income. When Habiba fell ill some time in 2007 and was required to buy medicine worth KSh 4,000, the cost was beyond what she could afford from her small earnings.

I fell ill in mid-2007 and the doctor the government clinic diagnosed amoebiosis. He prescribed some medicines, which I was given. I took the medicine as advised but didn’t get cured. So I decided to go to a private clinic for a second opinion.

At the private clinic, they did some [laboratory] tests and then told me that I had typhoid. The doctor gave me a prescription to take to the pharmacy within the clinic. When I took it there, I was told that the prescribed medicines would cost KSh 4,000. I protested and told them that I couldn’t afford to pay that much. So they gave me back the prescription and I left without buying the medicines.

I went to look for a cheaper chemist downtown, and I eventually found one selling the same medicines at KSh 1,800. But even at this lower price, I still could not afford to buy all the medicines at once. It took me about three weeks to pay for the full course of treatment because I had to buy the medicines in small quantities. I would buy a few tablets worth about KSh200 or so at a time, depending on the amount of money I could raise, until I finally completed the course.

Submitted by HAI Africa from the publication: “The costly access to essential medicines in Kenya: Voices of consumers on affordability and availability” published March 2009.