Siaya residents will no longer buy costly medicine from private pharmacies after the county began stocking hospitals with drugs worth Sh97 million.
Many facilities which had reported shortages will get part of the supplies delivered by the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority.
Siaya Deputy Governor James Okumbe said the county's 149 health facilities will be restocked within two weeks.
"We have to thank Kemsa for responding to our drug stress by supplying Siaya with Sh97 million health commodities including pharmaceutical drugs and laboratory reagents," Okumbe said.
He spoke at Siaya County Referral Hospital while flagging off lorries loaded with drugs to various health facilities.
Okumbe said the drugs will benefit 10 hospitals, 36 health centres and 103 dispensaries and boost the universal healthcare services.
“Already we have 32 different drugs that cure different ailments. In the next two weeks, we expect another batch of drugs from Kemsa, including those for zoonotic disease such rabies,” he said.
“We call upon Siaya residents to visit any of our dispensaries or county hospitals to get the necessary medical attention."
The deputy governor said the county has enough equipment and drugs so patients will not be required to buy drugs elsewhere.
He warned hospital administrators and health officials against holding drugs for private pharmacists, saying they will be prosecuted.
Okumbe was accompanied by Health executive Dorothy Owino and her communication director Jerry Ochieng.
Siaya medical superintendent Dr Mike Oduor said some unscrupulous health officials divert drugs to their private clinics, to which they unnecessarily refer patients.
“We expect to have drugs in all the 149 heath facilities in the next two weeks without complaints and we expect health committees in each facility to give reports on the distributed drugs,” Okumbe said.
He also asked the residents to heed to the health bosses' calls of social distancing, wearing of face masks and handwashing to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Okumbe said that Siaya recorded five positive cases of the coronavirus last week.
“It’s now clear from the Ministry of Health that Covid-19 curve is not flattening but fluctuating. That’s why we must take the guidelines seriously,” Okumbe said.
