Antibiotics like Amoxil and Flagyl, as well as sexual performance enhancers like Blue Pill and Viagra, are the most commonly misused medications in Kenya. Prescription drug abuse refers to taking a medication in a way or dose that is not prescribed. Taking someone else's drugs, even if you have a legitimate medical complaint like pain, not finishing the entire prescribed course, taking a medication to feel euphoria, such as to get high, or taking a drug due to peer pressure, such as to improve sexual performance, are all examples of drug misuse. In Kenya, it is simple for anyone, whether a toddler or an adult, to purchase any drug from a drugstore. Several pharmacists do not ask for prescriptions and are unconcerned about the drug's user; this has resulted in increased access to prescription drugs, resulting in misuse and overuse. What are the negative consequences of drug abuse? Resistant to Drugs When bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, or diseases lose their ability to respond to medicines, infections become more difficult to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death. The most common causes of medication resistance are drug abuse and antibiotic overuse. Resistance makes infections more difficult to treat because the available drugs can no longer fight the infection, forcing patients to undergo further treatments procedures such as surgery or lack treatment completely. Increased Medical Expenses Patients' medical costs rise as a result of medication resistance since they may need to spend more money on more expensive drugs or treatment options. Hospitalization for an extended period Due to increased severity of sickness, mutation, and a lack of a better treatment plan, drug resistance might result in disease progression, resulting in prolonged hospital admissions for patients. Increase the number of deaths Lack of treatment for communicable infections can lead to an increase in the spread of a disease among a broader population. Due to mutation and a lack of a better treatment strategy, drug misuse and overuse can lead to drug resistance, resulting in higher mortality. What are the options for reducing the misuse of prescription drugs? You can help safeguard our antibiotics by informing the public about the dangers of drug abuse and overuse. 1. Educate yourself Prescription drug users, their guardians, and prescribers must all be educated on the effects of the drugs on their health. To ensure that pharmaceuticals are used as prescribed and any side effects are reported and dealt with appropriately, patients must be educated on the consequences of drug misuse and overuse. Combating prescription drug misuse and abuse in the community requires educating adolescents and their parents about the adverse effects and risks of drug misuse and abuse. 2. Medication storage and disposal that is safe Medication storage and disposal properly and safely reduce the chances of easy access. Drugs should be kept out of reach of youngsters and in a secure location to prevent illegal access by family members or friends. If you use addictive medications, keep them out of reach of children and teenagers. 3. Monitoring of prescription drugs Doctors are more likely to dole out prescription painkillers today than they were ten years ago, and pharmacists are less likely to have prescription drug registries. Prescription registries should be developed by pharmacists, and a mandatory check should be performed before the administration of pharmaceuticals to identify potential drug over-prescribing and misuse. The government needs to step up its fight against unlicensed pharmacies and build a robust auditing system to track all pharmaceutical drug distribution networks.

Primary healthcare services are important for personal, family-oriented care, continuous, and comprehensive care plans. A good primary healthcare provider is always available, team-based and collaborative; coordinated and integrated; accessible and of high value. National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), Kenya recommends one to choose a primary healthcare facility for outpatient services. Although members can choose and change their outpatient hospital, it is not always easy to find the best and most preferred outpatient hospital. Before you choose an outpatient service provider, there are important things that you need to consider about the hospital. What you need to consider 1. Availability Your primary healthcare provider is the first person you need to contact when you have a health problem. A good primary care provider should always be available, in case of emergencies. How easy is it to reach the outpatient hospital? Does the hospital or provider use telehealth? How do you access their services in case of an emergency? 2. Location What are the available primary healthcare providers in your place? How far is your outpatient hospital or primary healthcare provider from your home or office? Proximity to your primary healthcare provider is key during emergencies. 3. Services Offered Does your outpatient hospital offer the services that you may need, such as, laboratory, radiology, drug administration, and dispensation or physiotherapy? If you are suffering from a chronic condition such as HIV/AIDS, Diabetes, Asthma, Hypertension, or cancer, you should make sure they are capable of managing the condition. Do you prefer a provider focused on disease treatment, or wellness and prevention? 4. Service Delivery Quality of service delivery is fundamental to better care delivery and patient outcomes. Is the hospital staff friendly and helpful? Is the provider good about returning calls? Do you prefer a provider whose communication style is friendly and warm, or more formal? 5. Operation Hours Patients should have regular check-ups with their primary health providers. A good primary healthcare provider should have an operations hours schedule that you can easily plan yourself according to daily activities. Make sure the provider's operation hours are convenient to your schedule? 6. Cost of treatment Before choosing an outpatient hospital, make sure you know an estimate of their charges, and you can afford to pay for extra charges if need be. Does the provider have a conservative or aggressive approach to treatment? Does the provider order a lot of tests and procedures? This helps you in budgeting for health, even though budgeting for health is never accurate. 7. Patient-Provider/Facility Relationship What do people and the community or other patients say about the provider or the facility? Does the hospital/provider refer to other specialists frequently or infrequently? Does the health provider involve patients in their care? How does the provider view your patient-provider relationship as a true partnership or business?

A primary healthcare provider is the first person you need to contact when you have a health problem. A primary care provider is any healthcare professional who is the first point of contact for the health system; it can be a local community health center, clinical officer, physician assistant, nurse, physiotherapist, pharmacist, or doctor. Primary care gives patients ready access to their health care team. What is the Function of a Primary Care Provider? Primary health care providers are responsible for diagnosis and treatment of a common health condition; management of chronic or long-term diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease; and prevention of future ill-health through advice, vaccination, and regular checkup programs. They help you maintain good health, with regular health checks, health advice when you have concerns, and support you in ongoing care plans. Primary care practices are generally located in the community they serve. Under Afya Bora Afrika, we aim to interlink primary health providers to their communities through medical app connectivity. We aim to facilitate easy and simplified access to primary health care while maintaining a variety of connectivity to other health providers for referral and other care needs. What are the advantages of having a Primary Care Provider? 1. Maintain good health Primary care providers offer preventive care and teach healthy lifestyle choices. They help with age-appropriate screening by monitoring the elderly's health and advising on better health practices. Primary health care services play an important role in advising and helping patients to prevent disease progression and support good health by encouraging patients to take preventive measures for their health such as stopping smoking, getting vaccinated against diseases, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet. Promoting health initiatives helps improve patient health and reduces the spread of diseases such as Tuberculosis and Covid-19. 2. Managing health conditions Primary health care is based on caring for people than specific diseases; it can be ongoing or long-term health conditions. Primary care providers help identify and treat medical conditions in home-based care patients timely, comfortably, and adequately. By continuously educating and monitoring patients about their health and providing relevant information about diseases and treatments, primary care providers enhance vigilance and prevent disease progression and premature deaths. 3. Early intervention Screening patients for early signs of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, mental illness, and cancers is important for better health and wellbeing of the patients. Primary care providers assess the urgency of your medical problems and direct you to the best place for that care. 4. Coordinated Care Primary care providers make referrals to medical specialists when necessary and help coordinate care with specialists. If you are admitted to the hospital, your primary care provider may assist in or direct your care, depending on the circumstances. 5. Reduce Health Expenditure Primary healthcare help reduce health care expenditure on patients compared to emergency visits. The care providers counsel patients about their health and give the right advice promptly and when applicable, preventing wastage of resources on travels and unnecessary procedures.

The cost of treatment is the main reason people avoid health care services in Africa. Health care is very expensive and unaffordable to many Africans. Many Africans are not insured, and the few who are insured, don’t get the services they need promptly and adequately due to late approvals and unexplained delays in getting claims paid. Lack of trust in insurance service providers, and poor services delivery, have also contributed to the low number of health-insured people in society. Are you a member of a sports club or a visitor? Which one is expensive? Normally, the charges on sports clubs are more expensive on visitors than members. Primary Care membership plans can be used to fill the gap with health insurance services, reduce deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses from patients, and also provide the ability for health providers to spend more time with patients and give more personalized and thorough care. Offering a membership plan that looks much like an insurance policy is a better way to insuring those who lack specialize care insurance plans such as skin, dental, eye, etc., and those who rely on out-of-pocket payment. Membership plans cut out-of-pocket payments for patient care services according to the plan, while guaranteeing exclusive services such as free examinations, checkups, exclusive emergency care, and discount specialize procedures that might be expensive or not insurable. Membership plans are better than insurance plans because they don’t have to deal with insurers’ heavily discounted reimbursement rates, wait to get preapprovals to provide services and there are no delays in getting claims paid. By cutting out the middleman, patients on membership plans act like insured patients, and come in as much as insured patients, but pay less for coverage, while health providers also get paid more. Private health insurance covers are expensive, especially if you are unemployed, self-employed or your company does not offer a health insurance cover. Patients who are self-employed or work for small businesses joining the practice’s membership plan can be cheaper, more affordable, and guaranteed care. For patients without a job-based health insurance plan, purchasing an independent eye, skin, or dental policy exclusively is very expensive and unaffordable to the majority of the population. Membership plans are less expensive than when paying strictly out-of-pocket, and prepaying for services motivates the person to seek preventive services. A membership plan keeps one on track since it is like having a down payment on your care. HEALTH NEWS AFRICA

Kenya is plagued by communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases, like COVID-19, diabetes HIV, malaria, etc. But do we have a functional emergency care system or even a contact number? How long can it take an ambulance to reach your home in case of an emergency? How reliable are the government emergency services in your area? In Kenya there is a scarcity of ambulances, a lack of well-connected emergency services and the available service providers are expensive and very unreliable. Access to emergency services is the first step to better health care, and the state of emergency services in Kenya needs immediate improvement. The scarcity of emergency services in Kenya has negatively affected lifesaving activities both in urban areas and rural areas. In Nairobi, getting an ambulance service is the more difficult thing to do; it takes 30 minutes to order food from a hotel on Mombasa Road to Umoja (8 Kilometers) but it takes more than 2 hours for an ambulance to come from Mama Lucy Hospital to Umoja (2 Kilometers). In Kenya, there are very few government ambulances available, poorly maintained, and managed, hence poor emergency service delivery. Private emergency medical service providers play a limited role, too, as they are mostly in Nairobi and only serve patients who can afford to pay. Inequalities in emergency services due to affordability have negatively impacted patients, leading to worsening of the condition or even death. In Nairobi, you will wait for more than 2 hours before an ambulance arrives; in other towns, about 4 hours and the villages, don’t wait, sort yourself. With the increased number of road accidents and chronic illness, as well as high levels of communicable diseases such as Covid-19, our emergency care providers and units, both private and government, should have seamless connectivity. The lack of well-connected emergency services that can easily be accessed by the population is the biggest challenge. In Kenya, 999, 911, or 112 emergency contact numbers are not functional. It is either the call won’t be picked or after picking the call they won’t be able to discharge an ambulance or paramedic since they are not even available. The lack of a reliable localized central dispatch system makes it difficult to even access public or private emergency services. There might be companies with medical emergency services apps, but they are only found within Nairobi and for those who can pay an annual premium. These services are only available to less than 1 percent of Kenyans. Increasing the number of ambulances while the communication system is still poor has done little impact in improving emergency service delivery. For example, counties that have an ambulance in every ward but only the chief and few leaders have the number to call for services have not helped. Diseases such as malaria, AIDS, and head injury need clinical emergency care; hence emergency service connectivity needs to be simplified for all. Creating connectivity between health providers and consumers is the key to proper and reliable emergency health care. Simplicity in linkage will enable the community to be empowered to access emergency services anywhere, anytime in Kenya. Afya Bora Afrika is the future of simplicity in health accessibility.

If you spend more money on a phone or a house, you tend to get a faster and more modern phone or a better house, but that’s not the case when it comes to medical care. Spending more doesn’t always mean you will get better health care. Simon (not real name) attended a city top private hospital complaining of mild fever and headache. He was recommended to do a Malaria test. Hospital A was charging Ksh 300 while B (the city's top private hospital) was charging 3000. After conducting the test in both laboratories, the results were the same. Done by the same technique, with qualified technologists registered under the national registration board, and the results from Hospital A came out faster than B. If you are a patient, don’t just assume that because this practice is more expensive, the care is going to be better. Don’t enroll in an expensive gym or fitness program thinking they will artificially transform your body to your desired shape, even a home fitness program can be more effective if you are committed. In Africa, the bigger the hospital, the most expensive the healthcare services. The widespread conception that expensive health care is the best and leads to better outcomes for patients is not always the truth, and it does not benefit patients. Price is not always a definitive signal of quality. Most of the hospitals overcharge due to demand and brand market command that they are the best. In Kenya, many people underrate the services or products of government public hospitals because they are cheap, but paying less for hospital care doesn't necessarily mean you get lower-quality care. Some clinics charge expensive fees only to outsource their services to others. Laboratory services prizes are hiked, but only to be outsourced to a different laboratory. It is not always a bad practice, but when it comes to overcharging for discounts, why not refer the patients to a cheaper place? A small hospital or health center can offer quality, fair, and fast health services than most big hospitals. The few patients’ numbers they deal with make their services individual-centered and service delivery fast and of high quality. Most of the big hospitals in Africa attend to many patients, overstretching the available resources, leading to poor service delivery. There is no connection between price and the quality of care. Some hospitals have high charges, not clearly defined, hidden charges, especially when payment is through private insurance or cash. In small care centers, a patient will spend a shorter time in waiting rooms before seeing a doctor and there is better care coordination, management, and service delivery. Public and private health stakeholders and investors should aim at cutting patient spending on health matters while improving the value of care to achieve universal health coverage. Government efforts towards universal health coverage should be championed by private health sector cooperation towards affordable health for all.

Patient safety is critical to delivering quality, fair, timely, efficient, and essential health services. It involves delivering health services that are effective, safe, and people-centered, hence preventing and reducing risks, errors, and harm that occur to patients during the health care process. Patients’ involvement in their care is fundamental in preventing harm to themselves. Timely and Adequate Communication Patients should visit a health provider when they feel bad, other than going to the pharmacy for self-medication. Early reporting and diagnosis help reduce the risk of adverse events and ensures adequate measures are taken to prevent disease progression. Patients should be honest and open to their health providers when describing symptoms because lying to your doctor can cause complications and problems, such as misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment. Asking Questions A patient should be free to contact health providers for inquiries and explanations on the disease, its treatment, duration of treatment, and any side effects involved. Ask for an explanation about your laboratory and radiology results from your health provider. A second opinion from a qualified health provider is also necessary for confirmation. Patients should participate in decision-making by expressing their opinions about different treatment methods and the most preferred. Reading the package insert Package inserts contain information about the product, its use, and side effects if any. Reading the package inserts for medications will enhance vigilance, prevent and reduce the chances of mix-ups, overdoses, or misuse of medications. https://www.afyaboraafrika.com/post/always-read-the-medicine-package-insert Verifying the medication Patients on home medication should always verify the drug before swallowing or injecting themselves. Confirm the expiry date, the drug condition, and timing. Follow the doctor’s recommendations as prescribed. Avoid self-medication when the symptoms recur, but rather seek advice from your health provider or a second opinion from a qualified health provider. Avoiding unapproved medication Patients should avoid using unapproved and unauthorized herbal drugs or mitishamba. Some might be unsafe and harmful to human health and may worsen your conditions or even lead to death. Avoid using unapproved herbal medicines with other pharmaceutical drugs because they can result in drug-drug interactions that may lead to a serious health condition or even death. Avoiding Unsafe Practices Patients should avoid unsafe practices such as sharing drugs, inhalers, and injections. Unsafe injection practices can lead to infection transmissions, such as HIV and hepatitis B and C, to patients. Patients using self-injections should keep the syringes and needles in a clean, sterile, and secured place and should not share with any other persons including friends, family, or other patients.

Before you start using any medicine, read the package insert. A package insert is a paper or a booklet found inside the package of a medication that provides information about the drug manufacturer, drug use, and its side effects. It is very important to read and understand the instructions on the package insert before you can start using the medication because it lists important information about the drug. Medicine package inserts usually contain the following information: 1. Drug Prescribing Information – It is the most important part because it provides the reference to relevant and detailed information about the drug. 2. Recent Changes – These are new changes made such as a boxed warning, dosage, usage, warning, or precautions for a drug. 3. Description – This section describes the chemical makeup and chemical name of the drug, its form whether tablet, capsule, or liquid, and how it should be taken by mouth or injection. 4. Clinical Pharmacology – This describes how the drug will be processed in your body and how your body will get rid of it. 5. Indications and Usage – This section provide information on the uses for which the drug is meant. 6. Contraindications – This information describes who should use and who should not a particular drug, such as, due to allergic conditions or drug-drug interaction that may negatively impact a patient’s health. 7. Warnings – This section provides information on drug side effects that you should pay attention to to help recognize any serious problem if it can occur. 8. Adverse Reactions – These are all side effects reported by hundreds of people on using that specific drug. 9. Drug Interactions – These are lists of warnings on the effects of using the drug with other products such as alcohol and food. 10. Use in Specific Populations – This section tells whether the drug is safe for certain groups in a population such as children, pregnant mothers, or older people. 11. Over-dosage – This describes the effects of using an overdose of the drug, its risks, and how to treat the drug overdose. 12. Nonclinical Toxicology – This section is very important, it describes the futuristic effect of the drug such as, if it can cause cancer, cell changes, or mutation, or if it alters the ability to become pregnant. 13. Dosage and Administration – This section guides on the recommended doses for an individual and instructs on whether the medication should be used before or after a meal. 14. How Supplied – This section describes the drug including its strengths, color, and forms such as capsule or ointment. 15. Clinical Studies – These are the test results that have been done to make sure the medicine is safe for humans and is purely for the intended purposes. 16. Storage and Handling – This guides on how you should store the drug for example in a cool dry place, away from children, or in a dark place. 17. References – These are lists for more scientific information on the drug. If you have any questions about a medication, it is important to ask your health care provider or pharmacist for answers and surety.

Male circumcision is an elective procedure performed on a healthy adolescent boy or man. Circumcision started long ago, traced back from Moses in the bible. In Africa, circumcision is a rite of passage and has lots of significance in developing from a boy to a man. Circumcision in Africa culture is normally done during teenagehood, to enable the young men to understand the root of their culture and values of being a man in the society. But modern circumcision has redefined the culture by allowing young children to undergo circumcision. Modern circumcision has improved the process by allowing the surgical process to be undertaken by trained and qualified health providers. Modern circumcision has helped reduce the chances of infection spread and reduce the healing time. It is less painful to the child and the healing duration is short. Modern circumcision is less expensive compared to the traditional methods which required a big ceremony, feasting, and celebrations all month long. What to Consider in the Male Circumcision Decision 1. The circumcision specialist should have competence in basic surgical skills and proper training in basic surgical skills. 2. Make sure the necessary supplies, equipment, and other resources for providing safe, appropriate services, and managing any adverse events examples bandages are available. 3. Allow enough time for observation and monitoring to stop bleeding during and after the procedure as recommended by your health provider. 4. Make sure the material such as bandages and cloths used are clean to prevent infections 5. The house and bedding cleanliness and safety should be maintained to reduce the chance of the sterile area becoming contaminated. 6. Have an experienced older person or a trained assistant to help keep the surgery safe and reduces stress if there is any difficulty with the procedure. Reference https://www.who.int/hiv/pub/malecircumcision/chapter_9.pdf http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/malecircumcision/en/ http://www.who.int/diagnostics_laboratory/evaluations/PQMCdevices_list/en/

Sleep under a treated mosquito net Drape mosquito netting over beds and make sure to sleep under it, well covered around the bed. Sleep under an intact mosquito net that's been treated with insecticide. Make sure children, pregnant mothers, and people with weak immunity sleep under a treated mosquito net to prevent getting Malaria. Use Mosquito repellant spray Use insect repellant on your skin and in your sleeping environments. Apply mosquito repellant with diethyltoluamide (DEET) to exposed skin. They are available in sprays, roll-ons, sticks, and creams in supermarkets and pharmacies. If you are visiting a mosquitos-prone region, it is good to have mosquito repellant that you can apply on your skin to prevent mosquito bites. Put screens on Windows and doors Vihiga, Siaya, Kisumu, and Homabay County are mosquitos-prone regions, it is very important to have screens on windows and doors that will prevent mosquitos from entering your house. Make sure you stay somewhere that has effective air conditioning and screening on doors and windows. Avoid water clogged area Mosquitos breed and reproduce in stagnant waters. Clearing bushes and allowing proper water drainage helps reduce mosquito reproduction and hence lowering the chances of getting Malaria. You should make sure there is proper drainage in your homes to avoid water clogs that can offer a breeding ground for mosquitos. Use Permethrin Permethrin or pyrethrin are insect repellants used to treat clothing, mosquito nets, tents, sleeping bags, and other fabrics that help repel mosquitos. Treating your clothing and nets will make sure that mosquitos won’t be able to reach and bite you, hence lowering the chances of getting Malaria. Being ready for a fight is the first chance to win. Spray an insecticide or repellant on clothing, as mosquitoes may bite through thin clothing. Spray pyrethrin or a similar insecticide in your bedroom before going to bed. Wear Long Sleeves and Pants Wearing long sleeves and pants is essential in preventing mosquitoes from penetrating your skin. You should wear light, loose-fitting trousers and not shorts, and wear shirts with long sleeves, particularly during the early evening and at night when mosquitoes prefer to feed. References https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/malaria/prevention/ https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/primary-care/malaria/treatments/prevention.html

Have you ever boarded a matatu and when you are at the door, you get bombarded with different confusing, nauseating, and very unpleasant smells? This is because all the windows might have been closed and there is poor air circulation in the vehicle. It is very important to open the windows of public service vehicles to allow proper inflow and outflow of air. Get rid of smelly stale air Clean air circulation is important for a healthy you. One of the main reasons people need to open up the windows on a matatu or a public service vehicle, even during cold weather, especially between June to October in Kenya, is to let out stale air. Air locked in the public service has been “used”. It has been breathed in and doesn’t contain as much oxygen as the fresh air from the outside. We all need oxygen to function and work properly, and therefore, air that is lacking in oxygen is not good for me and you. When you open up windows, you’re helping to get rid of the stale air and bringing in the new, cool and fresh air in the vehicle. Help Prevent Infectious Disease The most efficient way to prevent COVID-19 and Tuberculosis is by ensuring there is proper air circulation in the room. Microbe particles spread between people more readily indoors than outdoors. In matatus, the concentration of viral particles is often higher when the windows are closed than when open. A light wind from an open window in a public service vehicle can rapidly reduce the microbe concentrations in the surrounding air. The lower the concentration, the less likely the microbe particles can be inhaled into the lungs, or get into contact with your eyes, nose, or mouth. Open the windows to help prevent Coronavirus and Tuberculosis disease from spreading. General Wellness Fresh air circulation improves concentration. Because having fresh air in the room means there are higher levels of oxygen. New, cool, and fresh air helps improve mood, concentration and boost individual association with the environment and nature. WEAR MASK

Vaccines are weakened microbes, fragments of a microbe, or something that resembles the microbe of bacteria or virus that are exposed to the body to prepare the body against a particular disease. Once administered, the active substances in the vaccine meet and prepares the body's immune system, immune cells, and antibodies to recognize and destroy the real microbe. Strengthen Your Immunity Vaccinations prevent you or your family from getting diseases such as COVID-19 and Polio, which have no medical treatments. These diseases can result in serious complications, leading to hospitalization or even death. Vaccines prepare your immune system against diseases by training it to fight the virus or bacteria if you are exposed. It is better to be prepared for a fight than not. If exposure to disease occurs in a community, there is little to no risk of an epidemic if people have been immunized. Reduce Chances of Hospitalization A vaccine will provide adequate and prolonged protection against the disease or the disease severity. According to CDC, among adults aged 65–74 years, the effectiveness of full vaccination for preventing hospitalization for coronavirus disease was 96% for Pfizer-BioNTech, 96% for Moderna, and 84% for Janssen COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccination doses vary from vaccine to vaccine and depending on the disease reoccurrence. For some, there is a need for a booster dose yearly or later in life for adequate and effective protection such as vaccines against flu, tetanus, diphtheria, polio, and pertussis, and on travel vaccines. Vaccination protects children, old people, and people with chronic diseases from serious illness and complications of vaccine-preventable diseases such as COVID-19, which can lead to hospitalization and or even death. Protect Your Loved Ones Vaccines protect us against bacterial and viral diseases such as COVID-19, Polio, Flu, Tuberculosis, etc. Vaccination protects you, your family and friends, and all other people you care about including your grandparents, leaders, and mentors. Children should be vaccinated because they can spread disease to people they interact with and other children who are too young to be vaccinated or to people with weakened immune systems, such as people with cancer or diabetes. Simple and Cheaper Protection Method Some vaccines are free by the government hospitals such as Polio, COVID-19, while others are available in private and government hospitals at cheap and affordable prices. Other vaccines are administered once and can protect you for the rest of your life. They are simple to administer, for example, an injection, oral droplets, or orally drinkable vaccine. Getting immunized costs less than getting treated for the diseases that the shots protect you from. It is easy and cheaper to manage and control an outbreak of preventable diseases that may occur when many people willingly and voluntarily decide to be vaccinated. No Harmful Effects A vaccine activates our immune system without making us sick. Vaccines are tested and verified for human health before administration. Vaccines undergo long and careful review by scientists, doctors, and the federal government to make sure they are of good quality, safe, and effective for human health and all side effects are known to avoid any unknown harmful effects that may happen. Most vaccines are tolerable by all ages from infants to old persons, but always consult your doctor before and after getting a vaccine for advice or any other query. In Kenya, all vaccination is voluntary Reference https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7032e3.htm#:~:text=Among%20adults%20aged%2065%E2%80%9374,BioNTech%2C%2096%25%20for%20Moderna%2C https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/why-vaccination-is-safe-and-important/ https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/index.html https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7709178/