Health CS defends hospital kits for counties
What you need to know:
- James Macharia reiterates that the government is looking out for Kenyans and the counties.
- Some governors claimed that they were not consulted on the plan.
Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia on Friday defended plans to instal modern medical equipment in 94 county hospitals.
The equipment scheme was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta but some governors claimed they had not been consulted even though they had.
It is believed they would have wanted to profit from tendering for the equipment.
But Mr Macharia reiterated that the government was looking out for Kenyans and the counties.
He described the arrangement as the best any devolved unit could get.
The minister spoke during the closing ceremony of a congress on health and leadership in Nairobi.
He said the Sh38 billion bill for the project was inclusive of the cost of equipment maintenance.
CANCER TREATMENT
Some governors claimed that they were not consulted.
However, Mr Macharia said his ministry had assessed the capacity of individual hospitals in the counties.
Some counties, he said, were not in a position to receive intricate equipment such as machines for cancer treatment.
At the same time, Kisumu County Executive for Health Elizabeth Ogaja said ward representatives who attended the congress had picked up the memorandum of understanding for the equipment scheme to take to their governors.
“In the county, we are going to look at the document and interrogate its legal implications as we determine whether governors should sign it,” she said.
