Nairobi,KENYA: Health cabinet secretary Sicily Kariuki has directed the crackdown on substandard facilities being used in various health centers in a bid to clean up the health sector.
In a media briefing on Monday, Kariuki directed the Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board, multi-agency taskforce and KEMSA to move with speed and execute rapid-response initiative on dealers who engage on substandard health products within 100 days to avert health catastrophe in the future.
“This is an intense 100 days discourse that we are taking as a government and as a ministry and come back and assure the public that the drugs and technologies at the point of deliveries are of the desired quality.”Kariuki said
Kariuki issued a stern warning to health practitioners who use substandard syringes and HIV testing kits to stop using them with immediate effect or else they face the full force of the law.
Kariuki insisted that such tendencies might put the health of Kenyans at risk if unchecked.
On the other hand, the chair of multi-agency team Wanyama Mushambu said that half of the cigarettes in the country must be re-checked indicating that half of the cigarette products might be substandard.
“Even for those who smoke we have just discovered that half they have issues, the good thing is that they have issues and as a team, we have moved towards to that direction,”Wanyama said
Wanyama indicated that some of the cigarette products being used are posing a danger to the health of Kenyans, while others are meant for export but unfortunately, they are being consumed locally.
Kariujki said that the government will move with speed to harmonize and reduce prices of medicine in the health sector.
In a report released by the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission, indicated that the prices of products in the health sector especially drugs are pretty high across the country.
