Meru County CEC for Health Meshach Mutuma flagged off medicine worth Sh.80 million to be distributed to the 228 public hospitals and dispensaries in the county.
Speaking at the county headquarters, Mutuma said that the aim was to ensure the people seeking medical services were given the prescribed drugs at the health facilities for free to save them from the agony of being referred to private pharmacies to buy the same.
Mutuma appreciated governor Kiraitu’s leadership which had put a lot of emphasis on improving services in the health sector, and attributed the increasing number of people seeking medical services from public health facilities in the county to quality and timeliness.
The CEC added that the County government had increased the money spent on purchasing medicine from Sh150 million to Sh 300 million annually.
Mutuma said, in the first quarter, the county had bought medicine worth Sh.74 million and promised to continue ordering more to ensure there was no shortage experienced in all the health facilities in the county.
He said that delays in delivery of the medicine can only be blamed on the failure of the National Treasury to release the county’s share in time.
He also added that delays have been occasioned by the prevailing hard economic times along with some challenges facing the national supply agency, KEMSA, which had to undergo several reforms.
Mutuma was optimistic that the supplies will not be delayed by KEMSA any more, since the reforms had been made and the authority had assured the county government of timely deliveries.
The CEC further urged all public health facility management teams to use the supplies wisely, to ensure that members of the public access quality health services all the time.
By Brenda Gakii and Margaret Makaa
