@Jguru, and @Rankaz13 and all the docs here. Please note I am not accusing anyone.

Is it true that some of these gov equipment and meds are stolen from public hospitals and dispensaries and end up in personal clinics/practices/pharmacies etc?

If u've worked in govt hospitals (level 5s) Is it true that these hospitals were supplied/well furnished with equipment but there were no docs to operate them the,so they started disappearing or rather they were transferred to God knows where?

You are way out of touch to understand anything happening in this country, and you never will, Mr Makau Mutua.

I think I said that, I agree completely, I am way out of touch to understand anything happening in Kenya.

Such pilferage may indeed have happened in the past, I recal stories of antiTB medications disappearing to some of our neighboring countries especially back when they themselves didn't offer free/subsidized HIV & TB treatment. However, over time, stringent accountability measures have been put in place and are thoroughly enforced so that this is now no longer an issue. The Pharmacy & Poisons Board has officers on the ground who carry out surveillance on the same.

As for equipment, nowadays the most likely scenario you'll find is equipment lying idle in the store because there're no technicians trained to operate the same. I still recall the sad story of a hospital that had a brand new mammogram machine lying in store because there were no staff to operate the same.

When you hear people talk of shortage if HCWs, it's important to actually note that the shortage is at all levels/cadres, not just doctors. There's a biting shortage of especially nurses, lab technologists, anesthetists (usually C.Os), laboratory technologists, biomedical technologists, nutritionists, etc all of whom are really important in creating an effective healthcare team. So much so that even when the doctor is there and ready to work, the absence of some of these core members renders him/her unable to perform her core duty, that of saving lives. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any concerted effort in officialdom to address this shortage.

On the issue of dialysis machines, it's truly sad when a patient has to travel from Mandera to KNH for dialysis. Given the cost of outright purchase and operating such machines, how difficult is it really for the same to be provided to Mandera district hospital for instance? I keep asking, what really is the value of a Kenyan in present day? Why, why, why do our people have to continue suffering so much in such a country as rich as ours? Some of the things I've seen around this country are enough to put a grown man to tears, unfortunately. People keep suffering and dying all because we couldn't be bothered to equip their local hospitals so that they can access service as, if and when they need it. By the way, the patient requiring dialysis will most obviously have renal failure. If you investigate further, you'll probably find that whatever caused the renal failure initially was something treatable but since the health facility was so far away or was not adequately staffed and equipped, coupled with prohibitive cost of accessing alternative private health care, the problem is let to fester. And at a time he needs us most, it turns out hata dialysis machine hakuna. Seriously? HCWs are only human, and I can tel you it is painful to look at another Kenyan in the eyes, see the pain in their eyes, and tell them there's nothing more you can do for them. Not because one is inept, but simply because the facilities at their disposal are so woefully inadequate. Not easy i tell you.

Hii maneno ya classification eti sijui level 4, 5, sijui nini is honestly inconsequential to a large extent. When you are sick, you expect quality service at whatever facility you check in to regardless of those levels. How is it that private hospitals have better equipment than the gov't? Kwani wana pesa nyingi kuliko serikali? Seriously? I ask again, what really is the value of a Kenyan life? How many more must suffer before we can collectively say ENOUGH, and call our gov't to account? How is Zambia able to pay its doctors several times more than what the Kenyan gov't pays its own? Malawi? Is anybody listening? Does anyone even care?