Public hospitals in Samburu County are grappling with a massive shortage of essential drugs and this now risks grounding health services.
A spot check by Nation.Africa revealed that a number of health centres and dispensaries have been without drugs for the past three weeks.
The hardest-hit health facilities include the Samburu County Referral Hospital in Maralal town and Suguta Mar Mar Health Centre in Samburu Central.
For instance, Samburu County Referral Hospital, the biggest health facility across the pastoral region which is run by the county government, is in a deep crisis due to the shortage of drugs.
The Nation established that patients in the hospital’s wards have to buy medicines from private pharmacies, as not even basic medications were available for both inpatients and outpatients.
Mr John Lenguroo, who is a casual labourer in Maralal town, lamented how he was forced to buy drugs for his wife who was admitted to the facility.
Expensive
“My wife gave birth through a C-section and I have been forced to purchase the required drugs from outside. I have not bought all of them because they are really expensive in private pharmacies,” Mr Lenguroo told the Nation.
This was the same experience for Mary Lodongo who had been diagnosed with a stomach infection and could not get the prescribed drugs at the Maralal-based facility. She had to dig deep into her pockets to purchase the drugs from a private pharmacy at a high price.
The accounts given by both Mr Lenguroo and Ms Lodongo are just a sample of the experience that most Samburu residents who live below the poverty line go through on a daily basis.
Some doctors who spoke to the Nation in confidence painted a hopeless picture of suffering patients, many of whom are too vulnerable to afford medication from private pharmacies.
Help needed
The health workers revealed that the patients need help to buy the drugs, including those that are administered through the drip.
“It is really wrong that patients in the wards have to seek prescribed medicines from outside. It is really a huge burden,” said a doctor who pleaded for anonymity for fear of intimidation.
Samburu County Health Executive Vincent Learaman admitted that there is indeed a huge shortage of drugs in county hospitals but said talks are ongoing with the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) to find a solution and ensure residents get drugs.
He blamed Kemsa for the delay in getting supplies.
“As a department we have experienced challenges in getting drugs to our health facilities across the county because of issues with Kemsa. We are almost of finalising procurement processes to restock our hospitals,” Mr Learaman said. BY DAILY NATION