People with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Homa Bay want the county government to prioritise their medication in the budget to ensure their health.
The NCD survivors expressed concerns that most of them get drugs from only four public health facilities supported by non-governmental organisations in the entire county. The facilities are Nyalkinyi and Marindi health centres in Homa Bay Sub- County, Kendu Bay Hospital in Rachuonyo North Sub-County, and Ndhiwa Hospital in Ndhiwa West Sub-County.
At Nyalkinyi, Marindi, and Kendu Bay health facilities, the services are provided by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), while Shikuri Foundation supports services for sickle cell patients at Ndhiwa.
In the health facilities, NCD screening and drugs are available for patients free of charge. But public health facilities in the remaining nine sub-counties lack NCD drugs given free of charge to patients.
What is worrying the survivors is that the non-governmental organisations’ services can end at any time at their discretion.
In a meeting convened by the Homa County NCD Advocacy Chapter in partnership with NCD Alliance and Homa Bay County Department of Health in Homa Bay Town, Homa County NCD Advocacy Chapter Chairman Kenneth Ouma expressed concerns that public health facilities which are not supported by the NGOs do not provide NCD patients with drugs free of charge.
Ouma argued that the management of NCDs was too expensive for many families to manage. Thus, it was important for the county government to put strategies in place for supporting NCD patients with drugs.
“Most of the public health facilities lack NCD drugs such as hydroxyurea for sickle cell patients, and this makes life very expensive and unbearable for us,” Ouma said.
He urged the county executive and the county assembly of Homa Bay to prepare budgets which specify the money allocated for NCD treatment. He argued that the general budget where health is allocated a wholesome amount of money was not helping them.
“That General budget for health as a docket does not help us. We appeal for budgets which indicate the amount of money allocated for NCDs treatment,” Ouma said.
The Secretary General of NCDs Patients’ CBO in Homa Bay County, Tom Mboya, said failure to equip public health facilities with NCDs drugs was putting their lives at risk.
He urged the county government to start NCD treatment in all 12 sub-counties to guarantee residents good health. However, this can only be achieved if the money is allocated in the county budgets.
Mboya expressed worry that their lives will be more at risk if the non-governmental organisations terminate their services at any time of their choice.
“We can only be guaranteed good health if the county government offers NCD medication in public health facilities. This can only be achieved if NCDs are prioritised in the county budget in each financial year,” Mboya said.
He said better medication for NCD patients will improve the productivity of Homa Bay residents.
Trizer Ochieng, a patient, said the cost of medication puts NCD patients at risk of losing their lives.
“Most of us lose our lives due to lack of drugs. We appeal for medication support,” Ochieng said.
