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NAIROBI, KENYA: The Sh671 million request by the Ministry of Health as contingency against the deadly Ebola virus has attracted doubts and accusations from some Members of Parliament who termed the amount as extravagant.
Monday, Health CS James Macharia told the Parliamentary Health committee that he needs the money to prepare the country in case the dreaded Ebola strikes Kenya.
But Health Committee Vice Chair Dr. Robert Pukose expressed concern that the money was too much and wondered if it was a ploy by some officials in government to take advantage of the Ebola crisis to siphon public funds.
Committee member Dr. James Nyikal requested that the CS submits full details of the contingency plan put in place by the Health Ministry to enable them establish whether the amount allocated to it was justified.
The Committee's Chair Dr. Rachel Nyamai wondered why the committee was not involved in drafting the budget for the contingency plans, but Macharia said it was an emergency and there was no time for such consultations.
Macharia defended the requested amount saying the figure is actually a drop in the ocean considering that other countries have set aside much more cash for contingency. He claimed that Nigeria has set aside the equivalent of Sh30 billion.
He added that the funding is reasonable considering the disaster if Ebola actually struck the country, the losses in terms of lives and economy would be unimaginable.
“If God forbid, if Ebola strikes, it will be a disaster for Kenya. The countries that have been hit by the disease have had to spend billions of shillings to control. That is why our prevention efforts should be supported and the money we are requesting is actually modest,” he said.
The Sh671 million figure appears to have been revised up from Sh530 million that had been quoted last week when the Ebola scare heightened in the country.
Macharia revealed that even though the Sh671 requested has not actually been released by Treasury, they have begun using the Sh50 million that has been set aside by the Ministry for contingency issues.
“Treasury is expected to respond to our request in the next few days sto enable us prepare the country in case Ebola strikes,” he told MPs.
Meanwhile Nominated MP Hassan Osman raised concern over reports that a drug used and marketed in Kenya to treat HIV will be used by Nigeria in the fight against Ebola.
The drug that goes by the trade name Nano Silver was introduced in Kenya in 2011 by a company known as Benir International (K) Ltd, which has offices at Piranha Centre, Mombasa Road.
The product is said to contain microscopic silver particles and is a complementary medicine indicated to act against a wide spectrum of fungus, viruses, bacterium and other disease causing organisms.
The MP sought to find out if the drug has been registered in Kenya for use in treating HIV, and claimed that it had been banned for use in the United States.
But the Health CS said he was not aware of the drug and promised to give more information about it in the near future.
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