The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print
operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a
leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and international interest.
By Peter Orengo
Doctors yesterday took to the streets to demonstrate against drug shortage and Government’s failure to hire.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Boniface Chitayi said public health facilities were experiencing an acute shortage of drugs, forcing the hospitals to use funds meant for development to buy emergency medicine from local pharmacies.
The doctors blamed the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) for failing to supply the much needed drugs.
"This has forced the management to either refer patients to chemists, or use the money collected from patients to buy drugs," said Dr Chitayi.
The drugs that include antimalarials, insulin, intravenous fluids and gauzes used for dressing wounds are being bought at double the normal cost at Kemsa.
More than 1,000 doctors marched from the University of Nairobi to the Ministry of Finance, where they forced the ministry to issue a letter indicating the next posting of doctors, due on April 1.
They later proceeded to the Medical Services Ministry to petition the minister to tackle the issue of perennial drug shortages in public hospitals.
Health sector report
The issue of drug shortage, which is leaving a trail of misery for patients countrywide, is not a new occurence. Last year, a study by Transparency International-Kenya — the Kenya Health Sector Integrity Study Report 2011 — raised the red flag over a severe shortage of drugs and essential medical supplies in public hospitals. Malarial drugs, rehydration salts, anti-retrovirals (ARVs) and antibiotics were some of the drugs cited to be in short supply.
The report said more than 100,000 Kenyans on ARVs are suffering because the drugs are unavailable owing to slow procurement process.
Hoarding drugs
"During stakeholder interviews, slow procurement process by Kemsa and the Ministry of Health, lengthy ministerial consultations, inflated tenders and budget limitations, were some of the challenges raised and recommended for reform," says the report.
"The patients accused nurses and other medical personnel of hoarding the drugs and secretly supplying them to private pharmacies," the report adds.
Lead consultant for the study, Dr Teresa Nyambegera, said the Government needs to put more resources in healthcare in line with the Abuja Declaration, which states that at least 15 per cent of the national budget should go to provision of healthcare.
join