Malaria tablets' price up in Teso, Bungoma

Reuben Olita | 25 May 2012
The Star (Nairobi) Residents of Bungoma and Teso have appealed to the government to intervene and avert the subsidised AL malaria tablets crisis. Two weeks after the 24-packet tablets disappeared from the shelves, the price has shot up by 200 per cent. The anti-malaria tablets, which were being sold for Sh40 per packet, are now going for Sh120 in the chemists in Bungoma and Sh100 in Malaba.

George Wekesa Juma was stunned yesterday when he walked to Bungoma and West Chemists with Sh40 to buy the tablet, only to be told the price had short up to Sh120. "My daughter is sick in the house and I have only Sh40. Where do I go to get the balance? said Wekesa. The casual worker said he earns Sh200 per day and wondered how he can make ends meet with such an arbitrary increase in prices of essential commodities. "Kutibiwa ni Mungu tu anajua (healing is the work of God)," said Wekesa.

At Garissa pharmacy in Malaba and Bungoma chemist in Kocholia attendants said they opted to increase the price to sh100 because of its scarcity. The latest development has shocked residents of Bungoma and Busia Counties who accused the government of allowing unscrupulous businessmen to rule the country by proxy. They asked medical services minister, Anyang' Nyong'o and his Public Health counterpart, Beth Mugo to resign if they cannot take charge of their ministries. They said it is common practice to find prices of various commodities increased at the press of a baton with the government doing nothing to restore order in various sectors of the economy.

The programme, called the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria was rolled out in Kenya in August 2010.The goal of this strategy was to make ACT as affordable as ineffective alternatives. The government introduced this programme owing to poor access to prompt and effective treatment for malaria which contributes to high mortality and severe morbidity.

In Kenya, it is estimated that only 12% of children receive anti-malarial for their fever within 24 hours. In Kenya's rural areas many mothers still purchase ineffective drugs because they are less expensive than effective artemisinin combination therapy (ACT). One strategy that is being piloted in several countries is an international subsidy targeted at anti-malarial supplied through the retail sector.

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