The county government of Kilifi has unveiled a unit in the health department to ensure medical products and equipment are supplied to all facilities efficiently.
The health products and technologies unit has a team which will mandate drugs arriving from Kemsa and all other health products suppliers to reach health facilities in time.
During the unveiling of the unit, Governor Gideon Mung’aro also launched a drugs distribution truck dubbed ‘Dawa Mashinani’ bought at Sh7 million which will supply drugs to all health facilities in the county.
The team will be tracking the movement of the drugs to detect any theft or any other illegal activities that could hinder them from reaching the public.
Mung’aro also launched ECG equipment to help in testing heart diseases previously not available in the county health facilities donated by the Slovakian government.
“My government is committed to enhancing access to health products through increasing budgetary allocation, infrastructural improvement and streamlined accessibility initiatives,” he said.
The governor said following the successful launch and stocking of health products warehouse, they acquired the health delivery truck to enable supply of drugs to the grassroots promptly.
From now on, the governor said, drugs will be accessible to all corners of the county with a proper monitoring system that will prevent any corrupt dealings.
“Our government remains resolute in its commitment to ensuring the security of essential commodities for the residents of Kilifi county,” he said.
Mung’aro said they would allocate enough funding and resources to the unit so as to ensure they streamline its operations.
He said Kilifi topped nationally as the county that procures more drugs and allocates the highest amount of money to drugs.
Next year the governor said the county will unveil a cancer diagnosis and treatment centre at Kilifi hospital to end the costs of travel by patients to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi.
“The Health CS was here the other day and confirmed that the equipment infrastructure built for the cCancer unit was fine. We had a meeting with Indian investors , we had a meeting with IPEA organisation in Vienna when I went to the country.
Present during the launch was Slovakian deputy head of mission to Kenya Charlotte Marie Matusova, deputy CEO and head of investment projects in the Slovakian Ministry of Economy Dominik Susa, Kibarani MCA Moses Kea together with top county government officials.
Matusova said prevention of non-communicable diseases such as heart attacks and stroke, cancers, and chronic respiratory diseases was crucial in having a healthy and productive society.
However, she said, having insufficient cardiologists and other experts in the medical sector was an issue not only in Kenya but globally.
A Slovakian company donated a certified medical device where all medical practitioners are able within seconds to diagnose and refer patients with the same precision as cardiologists without having to wait for long period or travel far to seek a cardiologist.
Kilifi chief officer of health Dr David Mulewa said drugs will now be accessible in all health facilities in the county.
“When we receive the drugs from wherever they come from we shall supply them immediately using the transport you have seen here,” he said.