Contribution Of USA International Organizations To Public Health Diplomacy In Kibra, Kenya

Abstract

In order to supply public healthcare services in various areas of Kenya, particularly the informal settlements, international organizations of the US government have long developed an interstate collaboration with Kenya's state and non-state entities. However, due to shortcomings in key elements of public health diplomacy between the two nations, public health delivery systems that depend on foreign funding have not had the expected impact.This study encquired into the contribution of USA international organization in the delivery of public health services in Kenya with a focus on Kibra informal settlement. This study wasguided by three objectives: to examine the nature and extent of USA international organizations partnership in public healthcare servicesdelivery in Kenya; to assess the contribution of USA international organizations on capacity building in public healthcare servicesdelivery in Kenya; and to evaluate how the USA international organizationsfunding and budgeting affect public healthcareservices delivery in Kenya. The study is significant to the academia by highlighting specific elements of public health diplomacy as an emerging international relationssub-field. It is also significant for policy implementation especially the enagement of state, non-state and international actors in public health diplomacy for the benefit of marginalized populations. The study utilized the neo-liberal theory to explain interaction between variables. Data were gathered and analyzed using a qualitative study design and descriptive survey research techniques. Both interviews and questionnaires were employed. Stratified random sampling, census sampling, and purposive sampling techniques were used to establish the sample size of 100 respondents. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate quantitative data, while thematic analysis was used to assess qualitative data answers. It was discovered that well-known international organizations such as the Bill Gates Foundation, PMI (President's Malaria Initiative), CDC (Center for Disease Control), PEPFAR (The President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief), and USAID (United States Agency for International Development) are primarily responsible for advancing US public diplomacy. The findings indicated that the nature of partnership includes reproductive healthcare (100%), diet and nutrition (92.4%), sanitation improvement (47.8%) and non-communicable diseases (16.3%) according to the respondents. For the second objective, 72.8% of the respondents indicated increased access to healthcare services, 772% stated reduced costs of healthcare services, 78.3% indicated increased hygiene and 14.1% indicated proper care of patients. However, 81.5% of the respondents stated that they preferred donors to fund malaria projects, 84.8% preferred funding of HIV/AIDS health programmes while 80.4% preffered the funding of sexually transmitted diseases. The aspect of preference indicated that malaria, HIV/AIDS and STDs are still health issues in Kibera. The findings also indicated that 90.2% of the respondents stated that there was need for awareness campaigns about the health projects with the locals, 94.6% preffered involvement in proposal development while the 77.2% of the respondents stated that community participoation was imperative. For the third objective the findings indicate that 68.5% of the respondents stated challenges of trestricted funding, 55.4% indicated challenges of dionor supervision, 35.9% indicated diplomatic interests while 81.5% stated stringent requirements for funding. In conclusion, adequate public health diplomacy is necessary to achieve partneship and capacity building to ensure that donor funding is put into proper use.