• They now want the government to move with speed to rectify the situation.
• According to Atellah, the situation is so dire that medics have been left with no choice but to postpone vital surgeries.
Image: FILE
Doctors have raised alarm over persistent and critical shortages of essential medical supplies in public hospitals across the country.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union has noted with concern that scarcity of vital medical equipment, drugs and supplies has reached a dire point that is greatly hampering service delivery in healthcare facilities across the country.
They now want the government to move with speed to rectify the situation which they say puts the lives of patients at risk as they are unable to access timely and quality healthcare services they deserve.
“Patients are bearing the brunt of this negligence, with delayed treatments, compromised care and even lives at stake,” KMPDU SG Davji Atellah said.
“These shortages have profound implications for our healthcare system, resulting in compromised quality of care, lengthened hospital stays and undue suffering for patients,” he added.
According to Atellah, the situation is so dire that medics have been left with no choice but to postpone vital surgeries.
“Diagnoses are delayed and healthcare workers are forced into unthinkable situations where they must choose between who receives limited supplies and who goes without,” he lamented.
He noted that such dire circumstances erode the trust Kenyans have in the healthcare system and endanger the lives of those in need adding that the government's responsibility to provide adequate medical supplies cannot be understated.
Last week, health CS Susan Nakhumicha said as part of the reforms at Kemsa, the focus will be on the fill rate adding that an advertisement for commodities and supplies had been placed.
Last month, Kemsa acting CEO Mulwa pledged to improve the order fill rate of Essential Medicines and Technologies including tracer commodities, which are critical in providing health care service delivery in health facilities across the country.
Mulwa noted that delays in restocking essential health products and technologies have been occasioned by Kemsa’s inability to pay suppliers on time owing to cash flow challenges.
He appealed to the counties to make good their payment promises by clearing all outstanding debts currently standing at Sh3 billion.
“This will allow the authority to pay its suppliers on time and restock the essential Health Products and Technologies,” he said.
“KEMSA operates a not-for-profit commercial business model and as such whatever we get paid it is ploughed back into the revolving fund which is used to procure more HPTs and expand the product range.”
Nakhumicha on the other hand pledged that the ministry will clear all the outstanding payments owed to Kemsa suppliers.
According to the CS, the authority is further working on reducing the payment time from the current 110 days to a maximum of 90 days going forward.