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"id": 1522051,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Chute",
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"legal_name": "Chute Mohamed Said",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise in support of the Statement by the hon. Senator from Narok County. Hon. Speaker, Sir, I would like to first of all congratulate the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who comes from Marsabit County, Dr. Waqo Ejersa, who since recently is now in charge of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA. Hon. Speaker, Sir, recently in Marsabit County we received drugs worth Kshs45 million, thanks to KEMSA. I am really very grateful, but the problem that KEMSA has is tracking of those medicines. What Sen. Ledama is trying to bring to the House is, from the factory to KEMSA and from KEMSA to the county headquarters, then from the county headquarters to the district hospitals, health centers and dispensaries. That is where we have a big problem. Therefore, we need to have a situation where from the factory up to the user point, the medicines or drugs are being monitored. Currently in our counties, drugs are being sold to chemists around town. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you go to hospitals, health centres and dispensaries in most counties, you do not find anything, even Panadol. Monitoring is the biggest problem we are facing in the distribution of drugs to our countries. I suggest the Committee should look at the formation of committees from KEMSA up to the level of dispensaries so that the drugs can be monitored. If the drugs are delivered to a specific institution, the committees should know. They should verify the type of drug and when it is prescribed, prescription is for the whole week and how much is left in the store. If you do not have this kind of monitoring, then the supply of medicine will continue to be a problem. There are pending bills in terms of billions of shillings, payable to KEMSA. I would want the Standing Committee on Health to ascertain what counties have what pending bills and why they have them. If you look at the Level 4 hospitals, the patients pay for the drugs that are prescribed. So, why should we have hospitals or counties not paying their dues to KEMSA? Finally, the Committee should look at the pending bills to determine how long they have been there. Some are for three or four years. Why should it be there? They should have been paid and drugs collected. If they do not pay, how is KEMSA going to manage the outstanding pending bills, which are supposed to be paid by the counties? What Sen. Olekina is trying to do is monitor what is happening from the factory up to the end user. He has also said something very important- KEMSA normally delivers drugs to the destination, to the last mile. If they are delivering to the last mile, somebody at the last mile should know that what has left the factory through the KEMSA office has reached the last mile. That is the monitoring he is asking for. That way, value for money will be achieved. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}