Impediments to achieving health for all in Kenya by the year 2000: indicators from Nyanza Province.
The paper presents a situation analysis of the adoption of primary health care (PHC) in Nyanza province, a rural Kenyan community, and how close the level of health is gaining on the WHO target of Health for all by the year 2000. Empirical data from 219 households were collected through interviews, observation, taking samples of drinking water, and compiling meal composition. Descriptive statistics and Student's t-test were used to analyse the relationship between the level of adoption of certain PHC elements and morbidity prevalence. Sampled drinking water was chemically tested for safety, while meal composition was analysed for the nutritional adequacy of their mix. Findings reveal that unsafe water and poor sanitation, low immunization coverage, close birth interval, together with inadequate food supply and the subsequent poor nutritional performance, have significantly contributed to the high prevalence of illness. These factors have acted in synergy to produce and sustain the observed low level of health, a level that may make ' health for all' continue to recede further into the horizon even by, and after the year 2000. This is particularly so because the present health education fora are not sufficiently penetrating the family health care providers.
Kawango
Agot E.
AE
Department of Georgraphy, Moi University, P.O. Box 3900, Eldoret, Kenya.