Seal public health sector drug supply loopholes

The public health sector, which most Kenyans rely on for treatment, faces many challenges, including corruption and mismanagement that hamper the delivery of key services. This is unforgivable, as it results in deaths that could have been easily prevented.

It would be understandable if lack of capacity or a genuine shortage of medicines and equipment made it difficult for the health centres and hospitals to provide these essential services.

But it is annoying that some of the very people mandated to provide the services undermine systems for self-gain. The public health sector thus becomes a cash cow for greedy operatives instead of the dispenser of life-saving medicines.

An audit report has revealed that rifts among health workers and slow acquisition are to blame for drug shortages in public hospitals. A major donor, the Global Fund, released the report, which lifts the lid on the rot in the hazardous procurement.

Tuberculosis

Rampant fights among health parastatals and inefficient procurement systems that take too long—sometimes up to a year—to deliver are squarely to blame for the shortages in public health centres and hospitals, says the damning report.

For example, it takes 349 days to procure supplies to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and much longer, 406 days, for malaria, a major killer. The sluggish system requires 278 days to procure medicines for HIV and 348 for tuberculosis (TB).

As a result of the snail’s pace in supplies, patients suffer and many of them die. Last year, several antiretroviral drugs were missing from the market due to this regrettable bureaucracy.

Bottlenecks in procurement, poor planning and execution contribute to the lethargy blamed for the ailing health sector. However, there is a sharp contrast with the private sector, where it takes only a month to order and supply the goods.

These procurement loopholes must be plugged to curb this preventable crisis that undermines the health delivery system. This needlessly exposes patients to grave danger despite using a lot of taxpayers’ and donor money for the procurement of medicines and other supplies.