African Woman and Child Feature Service

Patients put on waiting list as road accident victims’ crowd KNH theatres

Patients who need hip replacement such as those with arthritis, back surgery, spine operation, or any other major surgery have to wait for up to four months or even longer, before the surgery is done. Reason: the theatres are packed with people with severe road accident and gunshot injuries, who are crowding out these patients.

HIV/AIDS in 2010 and beyond: From a death sentence to a chronic disease

In 1999 when James Onyango walked into his doctor’s clinic and was told that he might have to start taking antiretroviral drugs, he knew he was a dead man. Earning a modest salary, it was not going to be possible for him to raise over Sh 60,000 required for a monthly dose of the drugs.

He left the doctor’s place heartbroken, having resigned to fate. Death for him was just around the corner.

Waiting for justice

Githurai, a dusty township precariously straddling Nairobi and Thika districts, is a busy, frenetic place that offers anonymity and functionality in its numerous unplanned structures, itinerant trader stalls and small businesses to serve its growing population.

From her tiny shop, the sign still fresh with paint, Alice Ng’ang’a peers hopefully through the window wire mesh as a customer approaches.

Spit and move forward

Myra Karani’s world has been turned upside down. Five years ago, the Young Women’s Leadership Institute where she works as a programme officer was focused on helping women to break down the barriers that hinder them from taking up decision-making positions.

Now, all that seems so distant.

Women happy with the audit on the draft constitution

A galaxy of women leaders drawn from across political, regional and professional divides yesterday assembled in Nairobi and audited each chapter and article of the Harmonised Draft Constitution of Kenya, taking a common position on each one of them which they will then present as their official stand to the Committee of Experts.

Beijing Platform of Action: Many promises, little action

Last week in Banjul, Gambia, women from all shades of life started one of the most significant journey in their struggle to realizing gender equality and women’s human rights by setting into motion the review of Beijing plus 15, a key document used to measure what countries are doping to make the world a better place for women.

This review will culminate with the launch and deliberations on the BPfA status report that is slated to take placed at the UN headquarters in New York, USA, in early 2010.