Drug scarcity threatens TB fight
By George.Kebaso, October 11, 2023Tuberculosis and HIV patients are facing an uncertain future because health facilities have run short of the critical medicines, with shortages reported over the last two months.
Although officials at Afya House had two weeks ago promised that the drugs will be distributed to hospitals and dispensaries countrywide, this was yet to start happening by Friday last week.
“I am shocked that patienst are still being turned away even today,” Evaline Kibuchi, the Chief National Coordinator, Stop TB Partnership-Kenya, told People Daily last week.
There are about 1.2 million people living with HIV in the country while about 120,000 people contract TB annually. TB accounts for about 19,000 deaths annually, making it the fourth largest cause of mortality. “TB is a highly stigmatised disease leading to self isolation of the patients and in most cases by the public,” said Kibuchi.
In Nairobi, community TB champions, mainly drawn from the city’s poor estates, staged a protest last week where they were meeting for the launch of the Community Action Clubs (CACs), Nairobi County branch. They demanded immediate supply of TB medicines.
Stephen Omondi, a resident of Mathare told People Daily that shortage of the critical drugs in the sprawling informal settlement is running into the third month now.
“Currently, we have a huge problem; all health facilities in Mathare do not have TB drugs. When we ask, we are told that drugs have been distributed to the hospitals but when clients go there, they are turned away without doses,” Omondi said.
Mary Wanza, a CHP from Mabatini Ward in Mathare sub—county, said this challenge has been noted in the last two months. “We send clients but they are tossed from clinic to clinic, and if they are lucky to get medicines, they can only get two or four days worth,” Wanza noted.
On her part, Joyce Adhiambo, who has lived with HIV for 20 years, but now with undetectable virus, is worried for 20 of her friends who are on TB treatment.
“They are yet to get their drugs since they were put on treatment because the medicines are not sufficient, forcing them to share,” she said.
Wilfred Omari, a clinician with AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Kenya said the shortage has been a big issue because most of AHF clients can’t access the drugs.
He said this has become a very big challenge in the AHF clinic in Nairobi where four new TB cases are diagnosed every week. The last time the clinic went for drugs they were given two packs for the four clients they diagnose every week.
“So, we would like to urge the government to help us to fast track restocking of the drugs,” he said.
Every pack is equal to one client. On average monthly, the clinic sees 12 clients who are newly diagnosed for TB, and again it’s only the two packs the clinic gets that are supposed to last for two clients.
In Taita Taveta, it is the same story as patients have been turned away for the last two months.
“We have only two kits that we took from Tanzania though no client has been sent home for lack of medicines,” said Jeniffer Mwandawiro, a TB champion in the county.
She said they only have one kit left, and they are yet to receive a new consignment.