27 October 2008
Nairobi — The sale of inappropriate malaria drugs, poor performance and low absorption of previous funds have denied the country substantial finances from the Global Fund for HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.
For several years, Kenya has been under pressure from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to halt the sale of artemisinin monotherapies, drugs that are deemed inappropriate for the treatment of malaria.
A spot check by Nation in Nairobi on Monday showed that more than 15 brands of the drugs described by WHO as clinically inappropriate were still being sold over the counter.
The practice has for a long time soured Kenya's relations with WHO and other donors like the World Bank and the Global Fund. Kenya may lose more than Sh24 billion for funding HIV and Aids, tuberculosis and malaria control programmes.
In May, an independent study by the American Enterprise Institute reported that the sale of artemisinin monotherapies was rampant in Kenya and most of these had been found to be substandard.
The authors had threatened to report these findings to the Global Fund, the main financiers of malaria programmes in Kenya. The Minister for Medical Services, Prof Anyang' Nyong'o denied the presence of such drugs in the country, saying they had been banned.
A circular from the Pharmacy and Poisons Board in April had given drug manufacturers, distributors, importers and wholesalers up to the end of last month to stop the sale or distribution of these antimalarials.
However, by Monday the drugs were still readily available in many pharmacies in the city centre.
The Washington DC-based Global Fund had given the Government until September 30 to account for the money or lose further funding for malaria. So far only Sh4 billion has been accounted for.
Mr Gerald Mwangi, the chief executive officer of Kenya NGOs Alliance Against Malaria (KeNaam) said phase two negotiations with the Global Fund failed because the Government was not able to show cause why malaria funds should resume.
On April 3, an investigation by Nation indicated that Kenya was going to miss the funding, then estimated at Sh13 billion, because of poor accountability and low rating with the Global Fund.
Reports by Gatonye Gathura, Charles Njeru and Sammy Cheboi
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