Busia County to appeal Sh38m awarded to victims of toxic jab

The county government plans to appeal a Sh38 million awarded to the victims of a toxic jab.

A top health official in the county said the administration was not ready to comply with the magistrate's court order.

The chief officer in charge of health, Dr Asoka Itur, told The Standard yesterday that the county had not factored the money in the budget.

Itur said the county government had advised its legal team to appeal the ruling by Magistrate Josephine Maragia.

According to him, the ruling was inconsiderate and the appeal was in order.

Itur admitted that 28 complaints were made but argued that only two children were affected.

On December 19 last year, the court ordered the county government to compensate 28 children who got paralysed after receiving a malaria jab at Akichelesit dispensary in Teso North.

The money was awarded to the victims depending on the level of injury they suffered.

The court’s ruling noted that the victims suffered permanent physical disablement of between five to 20 per cent.

“It is unfortunate for a child born without any disability to wake up and find himself in such a state. He is likely to suffer mental anguish,” read the judgement.

Itur said the court indicated that the records available showed that only two children suffered paralysis.

“How can a court decide that we pay all the 28 children when we have records showing that only two were affected? The rest are not authentic,” he said.

The court has yet to deliver a ruling on two more victims and determine how much they should be paid.