Impediments to the Attainment of the Right to Health in Kenya: a Case for the Utilization of Traditional Medicine

Abstract

The promulgation of the Kenyan Constitution in the year 2010 heralded a new dawn for the recognition “of the right to health as a socio-economic right and thus justiciable. The Constitutional underpinning of this right is Article 43 (1) (b) of the Constitution of Kenya that provides that every person has a right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care.” The Constitution of Kenya envisages that full realization of highest standards of health by Kenyans is progressive. It is dependent on availability of resources, among others. This study explores the crucial role of state in promoting realization of the right to health in Kenya, lapses in the existing legal framework that poses threat to Kenyan’s bid to access medicine hence undermine the right to health realization. The study makes an in-depth discussion of the role of traditional medicine and knowledge on it in promoting right to health and makes a case for an integration of traditional medicine into the conventional health care system to improve access owing to its affordability, accessibility to majority of Kenyans and contribution to the knowledge of the present scientists. Its integration can also ensure it meets the acceptable quality for safe use. As Kenya executes plan of action of the World Health Organization (WHO) on, interalia, public health, there are myriad of challenges that stifles the attainment of the right to health and which if addressed can enable millions of Kenyans to access medicine and thus realize right to health. The discussion in various chapters informs recommendations for reforms.