Following rampant disappearance of drugs from Narok health facilities, all drugs bought for members of public will now be labeled for easy identification, should they be found in private chemists.
Narok county governor Samuel Tunai said despite the county government buying drugs worth million of shillings every financial year, citizens were not benefiting as the medication disappears from the hospitals a few days after stockng.
“The public has been complaining of lack of drugs in the health centers despite regular stocking. What makes everyone wonder is how the drugs disappear yet the number of patients is much lower than the amount of medicine bought,” he said.
The governor spoke when he made a visit to the Narok County Referral hospital Saturday, where he flagged off drugs worth Sh32 million to be distributed in all health facilities in the six constituencies.
Tunai said moving forward, there will be a routine crackdown in the private chemists and health centers and those found selling public medicine will be arrested and arraigned in court of law.
“Criminals are criminals regardless of their profession. We are aware some medics employed by the county government collaborate with the private practitioners to steal medicine from our health facilities and this must come to an end. We will collaborate with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and any staff caught will be dismissed immediately,” an angry Tunai said.
On her part, the County Executive Member in Charge of Health Services Vivian Seriti said the county was able to combat cholera outbreak in some parts of the county this year.
The outbreak saw three people dead and hundreds others treated and discharged in parts of Mosiro, Maji moto and Narosuura areas.
“Our Public Health Officers are still on the ground to contain any situation that may arise. The outbreak could have been caused by the prolonged dry spell in the area where residents could have consumed contaminated water,” said Seriti.
By Ann Salaton
