Who Shall Be Saved? an African Answer

Abstract

A report is presented of an anthropological study of the attitudes of the Akamba people of central Kenya toward the microallocation of scarce lifesaving medical resources. Health workers and traditional healers were interviewed concerning four values frequently invoked in treatment decisions in the U.S.: equality (selection for treatment on a first-come, first-served basis), usefulness (social benefit), need (saving those in the greatest danger), and life (saving as many lives as possible). Most of those interviewed placed a high value on need and life. Two-thirds of the respondents scored low on the equality scale, and two-thirds viewed usefulness as a legitimate consideration--at least sometimes--when deciding whose life to save. Level of education was linked to a rise in usefulness and life scores. (KIE abstract)