Patients in Nairobi are grappling with acute drug shortage in county hospitals.
This comes after the government medical suppliers, Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa), has withheld its services over a Sh108 million pending debt.
Reacting to the reports, Nairobi CEC for Health, Bernard Muia said the move by Kemsa has massively affected the timely supply of essential drugs across all county hospitals over the last six months.
The supply agency switched off its supply lines after Nairobi County government failed to act within the 45-day time frame for debt clearance.
“The sudden reduction of drugs supply has immensely affected healthcare provision and treatment in our health facilities but we are working on it,” said Muia.
‘'We usually pay monthly but for now, we have unsettled issues of cash flow.We are addressing the issue and we hope to get out of this very soon,’' he added.
The county government has been using monies from its facilities’ improvement kitty to buy essential drugs. The improvement fund gets its cash from small levies charged by hospitals.
Muia also said the health partners and other well-wisher agencies only chip in to address the HIV/Aids scourge.