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How will Kenya's new constitution affect the provision of health care?

by alertnet@alertnet.org | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Thursday, 7 July 2011 16:42 GMT

It's always exciting running a workshop when news breaks on the subject you are teaching - writes World AIDS Campaign Director of Media and TRF Consultant , Royston Martin.

Gathered under the auspices of the Washington based Centre for Reproductive Rights a group of young Kenyan journalists spent two days at the Reuters Nairobi Bureau to explore how Kenya's new constitution will affect the provision of health care. The objective was how to make compelling news out of something that looks on the surface to be very technical.  

The course focused on how the new constitution demonstrates several gains for the women of Kenya, including stronger protections for their health and lives. The constitution affirms that every person has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, including the right to health services and reproductive health care.  It also ensures that a person shall not be denied emergency medical treatment, which includes necessary medical treatment for women seeking post-abortion care or emergency abortion services, regardless of their ability to pay for such services.

The constitution clarifies the confusing patchwork of law, policies, and regulations on abortion by spelling out that women are able to terminate a pregnancy when it threatens their life or health. 

A mixture of luck and good planning meant that the course opened the same day as Kenya's National Commission on Human Rights (KNHCR) launched its inquiry into sexual and reproductive health. This meant we had a wealth of additional experts and first hand personal testimony to work with. This moved the workshop beyond the theoretical level and most of the particpants filed strong pieces for their publications.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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