The 28 victims of botched malaria vaccination at Akichelesit health centre in Teso North Sub County in 2015 have received Sh. 42, 880 000 as part of their compensation by Busia County Government.
Speaking to the press before issuing the cheques to parents of the victims on Friday, Busia Deputy Governor Moses Mulomi said Sh. 19, 120 000 will be paid during the next financial year.
“This matter was taken to court and the court did its own assessment and decided on compensation depending on the degree of injury,” he said.
Mulomi stated that 17 out of the 28 children did not suffer physical injuries adding that five others suffered 20% injuries with the remaining five suffering 5% injuries.
He urged the respective parents to ensure that the funds are used for the benefit of the affected children adding that community health workers are readily available to assist them at home.
“I want to assure you that the affected children will continue receiving treatment from the Department of health,’ he said.
The Deputy Governor assured the locals of the County government’s commitment to ensure that there will not be a repeat of such an incident in the county.
The victims’ lawyer Benard Ombui thanked the County government for the initiative adding that it had been a long journey for the parents and their affected children.
‘I want to urge the parents to continue being patient until the County government gets funds to pay the remaining amount,’ he said adding that a big share of the amount will be kept for the affected children until they attain the age of 18.
The representative of the parents thanked the County government for the initiative urging them to continue taking care of the affected children.
Parents of the victims have engaged the County Government using various means including demonstrations in order to ensure that they are compensated.
In her ruling in 2017 Busia Resident Magistrate Josephine Maragia ruled that the children were victims of professional negligence and proper diagnosis was not done and whoever injected them was not a competent medical practitioner.
Maragia directed that the victims of the botched injections be compensated to the tune of Sh42 million by the County Government of Busia.
By Salome Alwanda
