A mother of three and living on a monthly allowance earned from voluntary work in Nairobi, 28-year-old Winnie Akinyi’s monthly income was not enough to enable her to make an outright payment for treatment. This was not an uncommon problem for Akinyi or those living within her neighbourhood.
That is why, in early 2007, she had to leave her TV set at the local health clinic as security for treatment received on credit. This unique system was set up by a non-profit organization to enable residents in low income communities such as Kibera, to access treatment when they did not have ready cash.
Winnie’s story:
Before, some clinics used to give out medicines without demanding instant payment as long as one surrendered his or her ID3 and returned later to pay their bills in full and reclaim their ID. However, after a while the clinic administrators realised that some patients did not honour their pledges; they would abandon their IDs at the clinic and apply for new ones, just to avoid paying the bills.
These clinics still offer treatment, but now, if we don’t have money, we hand over a household item, such as a chair or any other personal property, as security until we pay off the outstanding amount. This is a good arrangement because it allows us to pay for medicines in manageable instalments.
I have personally benefited from this credit system. Not so long ago, I had to part with my television set for two months until I raised enough money to pay for the medicines that I was given at a clinic. My bill was KSh 600, which I could not raise immediately. So I took my TV set to the clinic in order to get the medicines. I repaid the money two monthly instalments and got my TV set back.
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.
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