[Kakamega General Hospital. Photo/Courtesy]
Hospitals in Kakamega county are experiencing acute shortage of tracer drugs which include antimalarial, antibiotic and pain killers.
This follows a Sh39 million debt owed by the county government to the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KeMSA), forcing patients seeking medication in the health facilities to buy essential medicine from local chemists after doctors prescription.
Heads of the health facilities revealed they last received medical supplies from Kemsa in November 2016.
The county health executive, Penina Mukabane, noted that her office was working closely with the national Treasury to clear the debt and recommence medical and non-medical supplies to hospitals.
“We have already placed a Sh78m order for drugs and non-pharmaceuticals to go to all hospitals. Kemsa has promised to deliver the kit by end of next week,” Mukabane said, according to the Star.
“We are supposed to receive medicine and other non-pharmaceuticals every three months, but the kits keep delaying. When this happens we ask patients to buy drugs on their own,” a health official revealed.