Questions have been raised in the Senate over reports that medicines and medical supplies worth about KSh1 billion expired while in the custody of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA).
Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu on Thursday asked the Senate Health Committee to explain how such a large stock of drugs was allowed to expire, saying the matter touches on the health and wellbeing of millions of Kenyans who depend on public hospitals for treatment.
The senator said he was particularly concerned because the expired commodities reportedly included medicines and supplies used in the treatment of cancer, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other serious illnesses.
According to Nyutu, the case brings about issues regarding procurement, storage, and distribution of medicines in KEMSA and Ministry of Health.
He urges the Health Committee to give a comprehensive report on the stock that expired indicating the value of such expired medicines, kinds, quantity, expiry date and location of storage.
Furthermore, the senator wants reasons for the expiry of medicines. The senator urges the committee to look into the procurement plans, demand, and forecasting of the stock that went out of use. This is aimed at establishing whether there were any loopholes in this process.
On the other hand, the senator asked whether the public health facilities faced a shortage of such medicines during their stay in the warehouses.
He questioned whether health facilities may have gone without critical drugs even as supplies worth millions of shillings sat in storage until their expiry dates passed.
Additionally, the Murang’a Senator requested for some accountability from those individuals involved in the purchase, storage, and distribution of the drugs.
He requested that the committee should identify such officers, departments, and organizations that were culpable in the scandal and ascertain if any form of disciplinary, administrative or legal action had been taken against them.
Nyutu was also interested in knowing the steps that the government is taking to mitigate financial losses that have arisen out of the scandal.
More importantly, the Senator urged the committee to make known the measures that KEMSA and the Ministry of Health are implementing to avoid recurrence of such scandals in the future.
These will include measures such as improved inventory management, improved oversight over the supply chain, quick delivery of drugs to health centers, and accountability among others.
The matter is now before the Senate Health Committee, which is expected to provide a response on the circumstances that led to the expiry of the medicines and the steps being taken to prevent further wastage of essential medical supplies.
