Tana River,KENYA:Accrued debts in health department of Tana River County have paralyzed health operations in the county.
This is according to the health executive Mwanajuma Haboka Hiribae.
Speaking during an opening ceremony of Tana River County Assembly on Tuesday afternoon, health executive Ms. Hiribae said the department might not implement even a single development project following debts of approximately 500 million shillings inherited from the previous regime.
Her sentiment comes while the financial year 2017/2018 goes to an end on Saturday this week, saying the financial year has been a dormant year in terms of implementation of development projects in the health sector.
The debts are from medicines and infrastructural development of health centers in the county.
“For sure it will be impossible to have a development project implemented in this financial year as my department is full of debts inherited from the former regime of which 126 million shillings was for medicines procured while 366 million shillings was for infrastructural development ” said the CECs health.
This comes as the county is recovering from floods which have been followed by Cholera and a confirmed case of the Rift Valley fever which has claimed more than 10 people countrywide.
Treatment of the cholera outbreak which claimed one person was partly hindered by the shortage of prophylactic drugs.
On the other hand, Rift valley fever has forced the veterinary department in the county to close down all meat markets and slaughterhouses in a bid to contain the fever where one case has so far been confirmed.
The health crisis has forced residents in Tana River county to seek treatment in neighboring counties of Kilifi and Lamu with the Hola county hospital referring almost 90% of its patients to the Malindi Sub-county hospital in neighboring Kilifi county.
