Kilifi County residents are raising serious concerns over the state of ambulance services, which they claim have been turned into private enterprises while patients endure delays and inadequate healthcare.
The recent case of a patient at Gongoni Health Centre waiting for over four hours for an ambulance highlights the gravity of the situation.
The inefficiency of these services has sparked widespread criticism, with opinion leaders, journalists, and bloggers receiving threats for speaking out against the mismanagement.
Last year, Governor Gideon Mung’aro unveiled what he termed “state-of-the-art ambulances” equipped with advanced life support systems, including defibrillators, airway management tools, and monitoring gadgets.
These ambulances were intended to align with the county’s commitment to universal healthcare.
However, residents and health workers now claim that these vehicles are either poorly equipped or barely operational due to a lack of regular servicing and fuel shortages.
This inefficiency has rendered the county’s healthcare system unreliable, forcing many patients to seek alternative and often costly solutions.
Adding to the healthcare woes, investigations have revealed that cartels operating within the health sector have diverted medicine intended for Kilifi facilities to neighboring counties, including Taita Taveta, Kibwezi, and Mombasa.
Reports indicate that these cartels use ambulances and other county resources to transport diverted medical supplies to private pharmacies outside the county.
This has left many public hospitals in Kilifi understocked, with patients being asked to purchase medication from nearby pharmacies at inflated prices.
The scheme appears to be a well-coordinated operation involving senior health officials and private pharmacy owners.
Medicine supplied by the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) is reportedly dropped at strategic locations and later collected by individuals who sell it to private outlets.
This malpractice undermines the county’s healthcare delivery and violates the rights of residents to access affordable and timely medical care.
Despite forming the Health Products and Technologies Unit in December 2023 to address the diversion of medical supplies, the county government has failed to rein in these cartels.
The unit’s mandate included ensuring that drugs from KEMSA were delivered to health facilities in full and on time.
However, even the drug distribution trucks launched as part of this initiative have been seen supplying medicines to pharmacies outside Kilifi.
The systemic corruption within Kilifi’s health sector has also led to punitive actions against whistleblowers.
A medical superintendent who opposed these diversionary tactics was dismissed, signaling the influence of the cartels and the inability of the county government to protect its officials.
Without decisive action, the health and lives of Kilifi residents will remain at risk, while private profiteers thrive at their expense.
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