Kenyans pay through the nose for drugs

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Executive Officer Halakhe Waqo addressing media at the agency's headquarters at Integrity Centre, Nairobi, on August 11, 2018. EACC has put the NHIF on the spotlight over paying for inflated bills. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Caesarean section operations cost Sh 20,000 in cash but skyrockets to Sh90,000 if payment is made via the NHIF cover.
  • Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said there was need for proper guidelines on procurement.

Kenyans are paying as much as 5,000 per cent more for medicines and medical procedures in public health facilities, a shocking report from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has revealed.

The price inflations involve the inflation of bills for patients paying through the National Hospital Insurance Fund for medical procedures such as surgery and removal of stitches.

The commission carried out the survey between April and September 2017, and published the findings in a document titled Report on the systems, policies, procedures and practices in the pricing of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical supplies in the Kenya public health sector.

The study was carried out in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Bungoma and Eldoret.

The EACC sought to identify the systemic weaknesses in the procurement of medicines and non-pharmaceutical supplies as well as loopholes for corruption, including price hikes and high user fees.

SURGERIES

Removal of the nasal neck pack, used to prevent the possibility of patients vomiting or swallowing blood after surgery on the nose, costs Sh700 normally but hospitals are charging up to Sh35,000 if a patient pays using the NHIF cover, a 4,900 per cent increase.

Radical neck dissection, which involves the surgical removal of a cancerous mass in the neck or metastasis costs Sh76,500 when paid in cash. But using the NHIF card, one parts with Sh111,000.

Caesarean section operations cost Sh 20,000 in cash but skyrockets to Sh90,000 if payment is made via the NHIF cover.

Surgical removal of cysts or irregular growths from the body is charged at Sh7,500 in cash but sharply increases to Sh90,000 when paid via card.

Removal of stitches, a Sh100 procedure, undergoes a fivefold increase to Sh500 when paid through the State health insurer.

PRICE RANGE

A milligram injection of adrenaline, which is used in emergencies to treat very serious allergic reactions to insect stings or bites, foods, drugs, or other substances, costs a mere Sh7 when dispensed by the Kenya Medical Supplies Agencies.

At Coast Referral Hospital, its price is hiked to Sh18.62, while at Embu Referral, it costs Sh30.

At Nakuru Referral, it costs a staggering Sh100, dropping to Sh50 at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Nairobi.

Food poisoning or H.pylori bacterial infection drug consisting of 14 tablets of 500mg of Clarithromycin, 1mg of amoxicillin and 30mg of Lansoprazole, is sold at Kemsa for Sh840, while at Coast General Hospital it goes for Sh1,300, as compared to Sh2,400 at Nakuru Referral.

Amoxycillin syrup, a common antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, costs Sh35 at Kemsa but shoots up to Sh61 at Coast, Sh50 in Nakuru and Sh40 at Embu referral hospitals respectively.

UNETHICAL

EACC Deputy Director, Prevention, Ms Emma Chege said the survey discovered that there is no list of suppliers licensed to manufacture and distribute non-pharmaceutical supplies in Kenya.

“This (situation) has led to procurement of all forms of supplies, some of which are of very poor quality. They include syringes and needles which break while being used, causing medical complications,” Ms Chege said.

EACC chief executive Halakhe Waqo termed the price variations “immoral and unethical”, saying they could not be classified as genuine profits.

“When a facility charges patients up to 4,900 times the original price for a procedure, can that be called profit?” he posed.

EACC chairman Eliud Wabukala likened the report to a painful surgical procedure on the health sector that would result in better prices and services for Kenyans if implemented.

PROSECUTION

Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said there was need for proper guidelines on procurement, adding that cases of the State insurer paying for inflated bills would no longer be allowed.

“The incidents of NHIF using its discretion to pay for inflated bills will certainly be reformed,” she said, adding the report will be implemented.

Ms Kariuki said State officers who will be found to be culpable in the offences will pay the price.

“We will not hesitate to deal with persons defeating the purpose of justice and fleecing the scheme,” she said.