A community hospital in a Kenyan town |
The initiative’s partners argue that “the distribution of this drug at the antenatal care visits and through community midwives should be scaled up throughout Kenya” (quoted in Daily Nation, Three-tabled dose to stop bleeding and save women's lives, 31st March, 2011). This prompts us to think about how the government can best fulfill Kenyan women’s right to health. While the right to health can be achieved ‘progressively’ depending on a country’s level of resources, there is international consensus that governments have at least some core obligations that must be achieved. These include the obligation to ensure the equitable distribution of health facilities, services and goods [i]. Misoprostol is inexpensive and easy to distribute. But it is also associated with more side effects than oxytocin. For this reason, it should not be misconstrued as an alternative for assisted delivery with a skilled birth attendant, nor should it detract efforts aimed at improving equal access to health facilities for all women across the country. Rather, efforts should be centred on identifying how it can be used in conjunction with promoting delivery at health facilities.
[i] See U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No.14, at paragraphs 43-44.
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