Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi has claimed he receives several complaints per day from residents concerning the lack of medicines in public health facilities.
Osotsi lamented that even though the county government procures medical supplies worth tens of millions from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) every quarter, the drugs are smuggled out of stores.
The Senator was reacting to the remarks by the County Director of Health Services (CDHS) Dr Jackline Oduor, who had told the Senate standing committee on health that the facilities have good stocks of medicines.
The committee, chaired by the Uasin-Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago, is in the county on an inspection and fact-finding tour on the state of affairs in the health sector. The team is on a four-day tour of referral hospitals in the western region counties and after Vihiga it will be visiting Kisumu, Nyamira, and Kisii.
Dr. Oduor said the county has 75 health facilities comprising four level-4, 16 level-3, and 55 health decentered dispensaries.
She stated that they have procured the stocks twice this year, the first consignment in February while the latest arrived two weeks ago and the distribution to facilities is ongoing.
She disclosed that the county has realized milestones in health and was ranked first in the country in immunization rate at 97 percent according to the latest Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) report.
She added that they have boosted community healthcare services by employing Community Health Workers (CHWs) who offer door-to-door services.