UDA MP Slams Governors over Frequent Medicine Shortages in Hospitals: "Kenyans Are Dying"
- Mwala MP Vincent Kawaya argues that the county governments have bungled some aspects of the devolved health function
- The lawmaker seeks to pursue legislation that will mandate the national government to directly procure drugs for the counties
- Kawaya argues that the tardiness of the county bosses to stock up the facilities with drugs have led to many preventable deaths
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President William Ruto's ally and Mwala MP Vincent Kawaya has put governors under sharp scrutiny over frequent stockouts of essential medicines in public hospitals.
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The health function, save for policy formulation, national referral hospitals and immunisation, was devolved to the counties by the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
Kawaya has blamed continuous stockouts of medicine in hospitals on governors' misappropriation of funds and wrong priorities, decrying that the trend has caused numerous preventable deaths.
The legislator has indicated that he will engage and seek the National Assembly's support to tilt legislation that will allow the funds reimbursed by the Social Health Authority (SHA) meant for drug supply, to be directly channelled to the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA)
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"Most Kenyans are dying because of a medicine shortage, and I'm appealing to the president to look into this matter keenly because he's being blamed unfairly. The blame lies squarely with governors who don't use the SHA disbursements to procure drugs in time, making the people undeservedly pay the ultimate price," said Kawaya.
Speaking during an empowerment forum of bodaboda riders in Mutomo, Kitui county, Kawaya, who serves as the national organising secretary of Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) vowed to pursue the matter through the legislative house.
"The governors must know that this is the beginning of a serious discussion on how Kenyans' health must be handled. We, the National Assembly, pass budget proposals and legislation that ensure counties get allocations. We won't hesitate to consider the direct payment of KEMSA to supply medicine and other essentials to hospitals directly if county chiefs fail and only want to blame SHA," stated the MP.
He further argued:
"All in all, it's not the governors who manufacture or procure drugs. That's the work of KEMSA, and if governors will continue prioritising funding foreign trips and not health using the SHA reimbursements, we'll reconsider how the allocation is done and have the money go directly to KEMSA, not through county chiefs."
Accusing governors of holding Kenyans hostage and unfairly blaming SHA and the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) for not working, the legislator said most failures lay with the county chiefs, not the president.
"We just need a tracking system for the medical supplies supplied to the counties when direct allocation of SHA disbursements to KEMSA is adopted, and that will help us know where SHA is efficient and improve on shortcomings. A blanket condemnation of SHA when you've failed to equip hospitals is a gross misrepresentation of facts," Kawaya said.
His sentiments are likely to ignite friction between governors and the Ministry of Health.
The Social Health Insurance Act provides that funds collected in primary health facilities are used to improve the facilities' services and infrastructure under the Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) provision.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
