Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja’s decision to allow private pharmacies to be set up in county government-owned hospitals at a time when the national government is on the verge of rolling out Universal Health Coverage smacks of mischief and hints at a hidden agenda.
The move is ill-thought-out as it will only disadvantage millions of city residents who cannot afford to purchase drugs after spending the little they may have on consultations and laboratory tests.
Reports from the county government indicate that Sakaja and his team have mooted plans to partner with private healthcare providers to establish pharmacies at all Level 4 and 5 healthcare facilities and their role will be to maintain and expand drug stocks.
With only a few days before President William Ruto launches the much touted Social Health Insurance Fund whose main aim is to provide greater access to quality and affordable medicare, Sakaja’s move looks suspicious.
Indeed, for years, city residents have been suffering, as even the cheapest painkillers were not available in county government-managed health facilities.
And as a result of the shortage of drugs, residents must turn to expensive private facilities for care.
A recent survey by the Twaweza East Africa lobby group found that lack of medicines in health facilities is the biggest challenge facing the health sector, with about half of Kenyans interviewed (46 percent) citing lack of drugs as a major concern.
According to the survey, 47 percent of the respondents in rural areas cited the drug shortage challenge, while 38 percent of Nairobi residents cited it as a major problem. The cost of healthcare is the second most cited by one of four citizens, with 23 percent saying it is a major challenge.
The need for the Ministry of Health to increase medicine availability in the public sector cannot be gainsaid.
Instead of scouting for private pharmacies to flock to public facilities where they are likely to take advantage of the situation to exploit the public, the Sakaja administration should consider strengthening public procurement to cushion it from corruption and mismanagement.
Judging from previous research reports, most of the drugs bought by public-owned health facilities end up being stolen and sold in privately owned medical centres.
The Sakaja administration should also consider putting in place a medicine pricing containment policy to avoid abuse and prevent overexploitation of patients, increase medicine price transparency, and reduce pharmaceutical supply chain distortions.
