Alarm as public hospitals runs out of stock of common drugs- leaked report
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Public hospitals run short of common drugs; alt east 90 per cent antibiotics and painkillers according to a leaked report
Public hospitals run short of common drugs; alt east 90 per cent antibiotics and painkillers according to a leaked report.
According to a leaked report, the nation’s national drug distributor is out of stock of at least 90% of essential medications, including common antibiotics, painkillers, and other affordable but vital medications.
Kenyans who frequently use public hospitals would be the group most negatively impacted because they will no longer have access to common medications like paracetamol, ibuprofen, and azithromycin.
In addition, Kenya’s supplies of bandages, feeding tubes, cotton wool swabs, and surgeon gloves are all running low, leaving hospitals without access to basic necessities.
In the list prepared by the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa), over 461 drugs are out of stock, pointing to a bigger problem that the country is about to face.
Asked about the shortage, Kemsa acting Chief Executive Officer Terry Ramadhani cited supply chain disruptions, but insisted that orders for key medicines had already been made.
“There are many factors that drive delays in deliveries, which could be disruptions in the supply chain or delays in payments to suppliers due to our current cash flow challenges. KEMSA operates a model whereby we stock items in the essential list as defined by the Kenya Essential Medicines list and the quantifications are driven by demand,” she said.
She continues: “We have reviewed our inventory to only focus on VTA (Vitals, Tracers and Class A items) to improve on the availability of essential products and get our order fill rate to above 80 per cent, as you can appreciate this is a work in progress and we are seeing incremental progress from an order fill rate of 18 per cent in 2021 to a fill rate of 59 per cent currently.”
In the list Ms Ramadhani provided, however, compared to demand and supply, some key drugs, including Amoxicilin capsules, Ceftriaxone injections, paracetamol suspension and tetracycline ointment are out of stock.
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The leaked Kemsa list according to Sunday Nation shows patients currently in need of Azithromycin which is a drug used to treat bacterial infections, including pneumonia, sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and infections of the ears, lungs, and reproductive organs will have to wait since there is none left at the Kemsa stores.
Amoxicillin, which is a penicillin antibiotic used for the treatment of bacterial infections including chest infections and pneumonia and stomach ulcers, is also not available.
Hospitals and counties ordering these drugs will have to wait for long until they are made available by Kemsa or sourced from other suppliers.
Also, there is a shortage of epidural catheters, which are used for pain control during childbirth.
In the list, the country is also experiencing a shortage of Foley catheters – both the three-way and the two used by patients when irrigating their bladder. It is anticipated to prevent and manage blood clots in the bladder.
From the list, there is no single bottle in the warehouse, which means that hospitals will lack vessels to dilute and prepare medicines before use.
The country also lacks Misoprostol tablets used in the treatment of stomach ulcers.
Cholera vaccines and chlorine tablets used for water purification and cleaning food preparation surfaces, equipment disinfection, mop soaking and bleaching are also out of stock.
Also, co-trimoxazole tablet, which is normally used for the treatment of ‘travellers diarrhea’, is not available considering that 104,875 tablets are consumed per month in the country.
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