Nairobi health centres under focus as medics share gloves on funding hitch

The state of Nairobi County health centres has come under focus due to poor management, understaffing and lack of drugs.

A Member of County Assembly (MCA) who chairs the health committee now says the health sector is on the verge of collapsing.

Mr Manoah Mboku (Nairobi South ) said that most hospitals and dispensaries ran by City Hall were in a dilapidated state.

“We are concerned by the poor state of the health centres as patients are been turned away over lack of drugs,” said Mr Manoah.

The state of affairs was confirmed by health practitioners across the county with some saying centres had resulted to sharing basic supplies to keep their doors open.

Mr Mboku cited Eastleigh Dispensary, Dandora and Makadara Health centres as being at risk of closure due to lack essential drugs.

Speaking on the phone he said that the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) had stopped supplying drugs to the county health centres following a debt of Sh150 million.

The county government is to blame for the downturn on “misplaced priorities when it comes to payment of supplier’s, Mr Mboku said claiming that the county had also diverted the cash meant for maternity to pay salaries.

He added that health partners who include non-governmental organisation were overwhelmed as they were basically running the city hospitals.

Pumwani Hospital medical superintendent Lazarus Omondi said dispensaries were the worst affected as they lack procurement departments compared to the level 4 hospitals.

He said in Makadara Health Centre, for instance, despite offering maternal health care the medics depend on Pumwani Maternity for drugs and gloves. “Makadara yesterday had to borrow gloves from Pumwani to be used by its health workers ,” said Dr Omondi.

Mbagathi Hospital medical superintendent Andrew Sule said they had drugs to last them 90 days, but was hopeful that Kemsa would replenish the supplies.

In-house borrowing

Nairobi County Executive for Health, Bernard Muia down-played the impact saying the sector was surviving despite lack of medical supply for last six months.

He said that the four main hospitals- Mutuini ,Mbagathi ,Mama Lucy and Pumwani Maternity had a 40 per cent drugs supply.

“Our four main hospitals have what we call facility improvement fund and are mandated to pay for basics unlike the health centres and dispensaries,” said Dr Muia.

He added that the county government has also been encouraging in-house borrowing of drugs to help run the health centres.

For instance Baba Dogo Health Centre got a donation of Sh3 million from partners in South Korea and has since been urged to share the drugs it procured that might expire by December with other county facilities.

Nairobi has a total of 116 health centres and dispensaries.