Leveraging Lessons Learnt during the COVID-19 Pandemic to build a competent and Holistic Self-Care Space

When the novel COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, Kenya, just like other countries, embraced practices that could curb the spread of the disease. Handwashing with soap and water or the use of an alcohol-based sanitizer has received considerable attention as a simple yet primary preventive measure. The COVID-19 disease highlighted the critical role of hand hygiene in disease prevention that had been neglected before the pandemic. Because our hands are a critical vector for germ transmission, lack of proper handwashing practices puts us at risk of contracting infections and other communicable diseases.
While there is no doubt that the pandemic had an impact on the economy, the pharmacy market continued to perform strongly as it was the frontline of primary care. Kenyans would walk in and receive treatment of any kind, e.g., headache and blood pressure management. The public were also forced to resort to online medical consultation due to the cessation of movement and curfew hours imposed by the government.
The idea of integrating self-care into community health programs and practices is paramount. Key stakeholders such as policymakers, donors, health stakeholders, and key leaders ought to discuss this critically. We need to envision a situation where an individual is empowered with home-based management, from disease diagnosis, self-injection, and even medication. This would be a game changer in the health sector as it would also reduce client flow in both public and private facilities.
Population services Kenya is leveraging this successful lesson learnt from COVID-19 to build a holistic self-care market and bridge existing gaps in the self-care space. This is evident from their project dubbed “Strengthening HIV Self-testing in the Private Sector”, which is being implemented in Nairobi and Kisumu counties. This project positions HIV self-testing as a major entry point to HIV testing, prevention, and treatment in the private sector, with a huge positive public health outcome. Moreover, it is a competent access point for sexual and reproductive health services and products. To grow the self-care market, PS Kenya is actively engaging the key stakeholders to identify and resolve key barriers and failures that limit the growth of self-care markets. This will improve access to key self-care products and services, complementing the efforts by program implementers in the fight against HIV and other sexual and reproductive health-related infections. To ensure that goodwill in self-care is achieved, PS Kenya has brought together an advisory board that will look into the policy and logistic issues that have been a threat to the growth of this sector. Furthermore, a lot of work has been done around empowering pharmacies to support clients with various linkage services and report data to the program implementers, which for a long time has been a predicament for the growth of an equally competent self-care market.
PS Kenya is greatly investing in social media to carry out an insight-driven campaign through various digital platforms to create awareness and increase demand for self-care products and services. This will not only ensure that Kenyans get information at the right time but also receive verifiable and credible information regarding self-care. The use of a vending machine and a digital counsellor are among the milestone achievements in the growing self-care markets. This will ensure that client privacy and confidentiality are heightened at all costs. The provision of a WhatsApp chatbot where clients are anonymously supported from the point of buying self-care products, usage and linkage to care services remains a big hope for the growth of self-care markets.
In an effort to break new ground for the self-care market and build a competent and holistic self-care space, lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic should not be ignored. Key stakeholders need to rethink the policies which have been the main source of hindrance to the growth of this sector and act swiftly with pragmatic actions. A multi-sectoral approach is necessary in this case, with unquestionable cooperation by key players to rewrite the new chapter of self-care.

Related Posts

game pgsoft bisa nabungpola mahjong2 kembali gacorgaya main rika bikin saldo meledakstrategi diam mahjong2 maxwinputaran mahjong harapan barupola ampuh mahjong wins3maxwin nolimit pagcor jarwograb amankan cuan scatterefisien main mahjong abc1131scatter hitam mahjong gacordeposit qris abc1131 cepatwild emas mahjong isa 2025jackpot 789jt mahjong bandungpola rtp scatter mahjong2rahasia jackpot mahjong wayspola mahjong ways terbaikpola mahjong ways terupdatemahjong ways yang sering jackpotpola scatter mahjong wayswaktu terbaik bermain mahjongspin mahjong waysmahjong ways hari iniscatter hitam mahjongrahasia pg soft pecah scattertaktik pola mahjong ways5 detik langsung cuan mahjong winsgacor tembus langit mahjong pandamahjong ways 2 lagi wangi bangetwd lancar hoki mengalir mahjong wins 2teknik buyspin jackpot 2025trik gacor olympus x5000spin mahjongwins3 awsbethighfreq rtp mahjong awsbetstrategi menang mahjong abc1131rtp live evolution abc1131pola spin efisien awsbethigh betting mahjong awsbethari hoki mahjong ways 2spin beda mahjong wins 3spin dikit rezeki selangit mahjong ways 3keberuntungan ngikutin spin mahjong wins 3topup qris scatter mahjongways2santai cuan mahjong abc1131shio kerbau cuan mahjong abc1131pola tunggal gacor mahjongwayssamsudin mahjong bangun pantitukang becak menang mahjongpola kalem scatter mahjongwaysaktifkan akun mahjongways1ngopi menang maxwin mahjongscatter terpanjang mahjong awsbetpetani menang besar abc1131peluang cuan mahjongwins3waktu gacor scatter mahjongkoi gate jadi primadonapola statistik mahjongwayspresisi rumus mahjongwins3panduan lengkap mahjongwins3strategi cepat mahjongwins3main agresif mahjongways2pola hoki admin awsbetbocoran skema pola gacor gates of olympus hari inigame pg soft lagi gacorbocoran rtp game maxwinwaktu gacor mahjongwins3 scattermaxwin mahjongwins3 rp289jt hebohspin 6x mahjongwins3 cepat cuantips kasir mahjongwins3 anti boncosfree spin mahjongways2 hadiah motortrik tipis bandung mahjongways awsbetspin olympus palembang rp280jtlucky tiger 3spin balikpapan ramai5 langkah bonus 800jt awsbetjackpot makassar 300jt mahjongwins3skripsi jadi cuan mahjongwins 3buy spin bongkar jackpot rahasiafreelance saldo meledak sweetbonanzatrik pabrik olympus x5000 abc1131modal tipis motor baru mahjongways2pola populer pemula mahjongwins awsbetstrategi aman cuan mahjongwins awsbethigh frequency mahjongwins maxwin cepattaruhan langka gandakan bonus mahjongwinseksperimen 3x spin awsbet hebohkan pemain2311 mahjong kaget banget2312 mahjong zaman berubahheylink macauklubheylink asiaklubheylink hksbetheylink kapten76heylink mpoxoheylink garuda76garuda76asiaklubmacauklubrawit303ABC1131mpoxlABC1131 AMPSLOT MPO DANAviral asiaklubviral macauklubpondok88link jp gacorslot thailandsitus gacor maxwin