At least 800 private clinics in Nairobi risk being closed after they were identified to be operating illegally.
According to a report by the Nairobi County Public Health Department, the clinics lack the required documentation and permits.
In August last year, a mapping program was conducted by the Health department, which discovered the county had a total of 2,315 private clinics.
Speaking last Thursday when she appeared before the Nairobi county assembly committee for Health Services, clinical inspection coordinator Jesca Omai said that out of the 2,315 clinics, only 1,500 facilities had been inspected and cleared by regulators and officers from the health department.
She said 800 clinics were operating illegally and were still offering services to Nairobians.
The committee led by chairman Peter Warutere questioned how the
clinics started operating in the first place if the Public Health Department knew they were unlicensed.
Omai said the department receives applications from people who want to start clinics but it is not the only body authorised to license them
“We have regulatory bodies which are different. The overall regulatory body is the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board. Nursing councils can also license their members,” she said.
She said the biggest challenge was having other regulatory bodies that don’t involve the county government in the process of inspection.
The committee’s chairman said the illegality of these clinics puts the health of city dwellers seeking medical attention from them at risk.
“This is a weighty matter and all the illegal clinics should be shut down. The number is overwhelming and we now question ourselves whether Nairobians are receiving the right treatment from these clinics,” Warutere said.
The committee resolved to work together with the county to put in place the necessary measures to ensure illegal clinics which do not meet the necessary standards are permanently closed.
The committee will this week have sittings with the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board over the issue of illegal clinics.
The Health department also told the committee that Milan Health International which belongs to quack doctor Mugo Wa Wairimu has been closed.
Omai said the clinical inspection coordinator revealed the facility had not been inspected and provided with a business permit and no license had been issued to the clinic.
“During a routine inspection by public health officers at ward level they came across this facility and were denied entry. On revisiting the clinic to check for compliance they found the facility closed,” Omai told the committee.
Mugo was arrested last Tuesday in Gachie, Kiambu county, by Flying Squad officers after being on the run for two weeks.