Kilifi,KENYA: Muslim leaders in Kilifi County have urged the national and county governments to devote enough resources to the provision of health services as a way of cushioning Kenyans from the high cost of medication.
Their calls came after Finance Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich announced in the national budget that the government had allocated sh. 47.8 billion for the Universal Health Coverage.
Led by Sheikh Mohamed Alhatimi, the leaders who had visited a colleague at the privately owned Star hospital in Malindi town, decried the high cost of medication in the country alleging it had contributed to the poverty index of individuals and communities leaving most Kenyans to be beggars.
“Today my fellow leaders have come to visit me here in this private facility where many Kenyans cannot seek treatment due to the high cost of medication. I want to urge the national and county governments to invest more in the health sector and subsidize rates so that every Kenyan can afford the best medical care,” said Alhatimi.
CARTELS
Alhatimi said that more Kenyans continued to suffer in the hands of cartels in public health facilities that he said hoard drugs and refer patients to privately owned pharmacies where the drugs are obtained at exorbitant prices.
“We recently witnessed the case in Machakos County where Governor Alfred Mutua busted a drug syndicate in one of the hospitals and this happens in almost all hospitals in the country and the culprits must be brought to book since they are endangering the lives of patients,” he added.
