Mombasa County has today received a consignment of medical supplies worth Sh7 million from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) for effective delivery of health services.
The consignment is part of medical supplies worth over Sh50 million that the county will receive and distribute to all county health facilities.
Governor Abdulswamad Nassir received the first batch of medical supplies, consisting of pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceuticals, laboratories, and other specialised medical products, at his office.
The governor said the supplies would be a sigh of relief to patients who have been greatly affected by the lack of drugs in hospitals.
“This is a journey to ensure that our facilities are equipped with medicines and disposables. This is the first lot; by next week we are expecting another consignment, so ours is to pray that people don’t get sick, and if they get sick, we have drugs to treat them,” said Nassir.
Governor Nassir is banking on the ongoing biometric registration of Mombasa Care, a health insurance cover provided to the vulnerable residents of Mombasa County, to ensure universal health service delivery.
Governor Nassir further added that they are keen to ensure health facilities are fully equipped, in addition to the employment of more staff for the smooth running of the facilities.
The governor revealed that they have paid the money due to NHIF for the treatment of those registered under the Mombasa Care Programme and don’t have outstanding payments with KEMSA.
KEMSA was urged to speed up the delivery of the remaining consignments as soon as possible to avoid an occurrence of a shortage of drugs in the coming months, noting that there has been a recurrence of drug shortages in the past due to delayed supplies from the agency.
Mombasa CECM for Health Swabah Ahmed said all patients registered under the county NHIF coverage are eligible for treatment as the county has cleared all debts with NHIF.
“Any patient registered under the NHIF can now visit any hospital and be assured of health services. We expect 80,000 members to benefit from NHIF under the county universal health programme,” said Ahmed.
By Sadik Hassan
