Kenya is now grappling with blood shortage in hospitals around the country including Nyanza region that has now attracted the government's attention. This situation is being associated with the withdrawal of the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief (PefPar), which has been funding activities around blood donation.
The donors are said to be leaving Kenya, terming Kenya no longer a low-income country and that it can now handle such matters on her own.
This as it emerges that a number of patients have died at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu alone, as a result of the ongoing blood crisis.
This situation has worsened because of a lack of equipment to collect or preserve contributions.
The hospital CEO Peter Okoth admitted that the facility is facing a crisis, adding that it has lost a number of patients, but noted that the unofficial death figures being given out are exaggerated.
Consequently, the county is among those being targeted by the Ministry of Health as it seeks to intervene. The ministry has since dispatched teams of officials to assess the situation.
Health CS Sicily Kariuki said that she hopes to have the actual details from the ground on Friday, after which her office will come up with ways to counter the situation.
“But I will have to get back on the matter by the end of the week as I am expecting the report from the team on Friday,” she told the Standard.
However, the CS says that the government is ready to come in and fill the gap left by the donor's exit.