The right to health is a fundamental human right that is recognized under Article 25 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and other necessary social services. This right has also been enshrined as goal #3 of the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and at the national level, as Article 43 of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya. To meet its national and international obligations in relation to the right to health, Kenya is under an obligation to take legislative, policy and other measures including setting standards to achieve the progressive realization of the right to health.
In December 2018, as part of his 5-year 'Big Four Agenda", President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as a national priority for national sustainable development, and committed to making strategic investments in the health sector in order to achieve this goal. These investments have mainly been focused on improving governance, financing and efficiency of public health facilities in the country, and in the development of a single unified health benefit package that will ensure that all Kenyans are able to access essential and quality services for the improvement of their health and well-being.
Whilst these efforts go a long way to significantly address the challenges facing Kenya's health sector, there is need to broaden the scope of this agenda by recognizing that an individual's health and well-being is not defined solely by availability of health care services, and that the environment one lives in also has a big role to play towards improving or deteriorating one's health and well-being.
It is widely known that cities, as compared to rural areas, have significantly less natural environments, leading to dis-engagement between people living in the cities and nature. Over the last few years there has been increased scientific interest in the benefits that contact with nature has over people’s health and well-being. Growing evidence base has shown that contact with nature has positive impacts on so many aspects of a person’s life such as;
improved congestive heart failure, among others.
Tragically, in recent times, there has been widespread concern in Kenya over heightened pressure on urban tree cover, forests and green spaces, especially within the Nairobi Metropolitan Area, such as; the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) through Nairobi National Park, the increased tree cover loss within the Nairobi Metropolitan urban forests, and the uproar over the construction of a raised express highway which has resulted in the felling of hundreds of trees.
As we celebrate this year’s World Health Day which seeks to bring to focus the importance of building a fairer and healthier world, it is crucial we understand that environmental degradation, human health and inequalities are inextricably linked. Just like the socio-economic inequalities that exist in access to health care services, opportunities to access nature and green spaces are also often inequitably distributed especially in cities and urban areas.
It is high time that both the National and County Governments recognize the value that tree cover, urban forests and public green spaces have to offer; prioritize the creation, conservation and expansion of these areas, especially in low-income neighborhoods, in order to improve the health and well-being of all its residents; and develop, adopt, publicize and monitor a comprehensive Urban Green Space Strategy that should be incorporated as a key element in the spatial and development planning of urban areas at the county level.
Examples of initiatives could for instance be:
ensuring mandatory creation of spaces for greenery/tree planting along all road and highway construction projects by relevant ministries and national authorities;
utilization of vast un-utilized government institution lands to establish tree nurseries for distribution of tree seedlings to communities across the country at a subsidized rate, especially during the rainy seasons;
increased political will and commitment to reclaim grabbed public lands and subsequent transformation of these lands in to community parks/open green spaces;
identification of other ideal government lands that could be used to establish new green spaces;
and the improvement of already existing green spaces, among others;
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