Meeting Health Needs of the Marginalized: Health Implications of Children Living in the Streets in Eldoret, Kenya

Globally, millions of street children live in the streets where they are deprived of social, economic, education and health opportunities for their survival. Street children grow up in an environment where equanimity and psychosocial stability is frequently threatened. To the worst, their health is compromised by shoddier and everyday deteriorating environmental conditions. This is compounded by inadequate research on health issues of street children hence, lack of enough data in planning effective interventions for them. This paper is an extract of a larger study that was conducted in Eldoret town and partly looks into the health implications of children living on the streets in Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. A cross sectional descriptive type of study was conducted among 45 street children between the ages 8 to 16 years who were available at different bases of Eldoret town. Study findings show that street children in Eldoret face myriad health challenges which included poor access to health facilities where they were discriminated against and were also required to buy medication prescribed to them by health providers. The study recommends that sustainable interventions should be in place to remove street children from the streets to prevent them from exposure to harsh conditions that threaten their survival and development