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Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa has put in place measures to prevent theft of drugs from county hospitals.
The governor has further issued a stern warning to officers found diverting and reselling drugs and non-pharmaceuticals meant for public facilities.
Speaking when he flagged a consignment of essential supplies to hospitals on Monday, Barasa said the management has put up systems to ensure the drugs and equipment can be tracked and officers held accountable.
“These drugs should not be found on the shelves of private clinics in town,” Barasa said.
“If we find any officer selling them, then we will take action, even if it means dismissal.”
Barasa flagged off a consignment of drugs and non-pharmaceuticals worth Sh240million to various facilities in the 12 subcounties.
This comes amid concerns raised over availability and access of drugs in the public facilities. This led to formation of a team to assess the sector.
“I want to assure you that this is going to be the norm after every three months,” he said.
“We will be flagging off drugs every quarter so that patients get drugs in hospital.”
The drugs flagged off will be tracked using an automated system from the distribution up to the stocking up in the public facilities.
“First, we have a process of receiving those drugs through an automated system, where we will have a proper inventory for the drugs through our health management system,” he said.
Out of the Sh240 million drugs, the County General Hospital will receive the highest consignment, worth Sh56 million, while the remaining will be distributed to the remaining facilities.
The consignment, which was flagged off at Bukhungu Stadium will, see all Level 4 hospitals receive supplies worth between Sh10 million and Sh15 million.
The consignment includes reagents, non-pharmaceuticals and all types of drugs, including antibiotics and painkillers.
“Both drugs, reagents and non-pharms will be distributed to Level 4 hospitals. We also want to equip our dispensaries so that they can deal with minor ailments,” he said.
The county set aside Sh59 million for the Health Fund to act as seed money to health facilities.
The fund will help all health facilities able to raise revenue, retain the collections and use the funds to generate and improve health services.
The health sector, which got an allocation of Sh639 million largely for equipment in the 2023-24 budget, is set to undergo reforms.
Last month, doctors at CGH complained of a lack of pharmaceuticals and other supplies and equipment to enable them to perform their duties.
This was in a letter to the county Health chief officer Dr David Allila.
They cited the lack of essential services at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit, but the lack of drugs and supplies affects the entire hospital.
County director of communications Sumba Juma said some supplies had been mobilised to keep the unit running. BY THE STAR