AFRICA/KENYA-In the country people continue to die due to lack of basic medicines and anesthetics

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - Due to the lack of anesthetics, one person dies every week in Kenya, and the situation is particularly serious in rural areas. In areas such as Turkana in the Rift Valley, and Northeastern provinces, East and West, many patients suffer from very painful surgery without any anesthesia. According to the head of the Movement for access to treatment in Kenya, it is possible to find anesthetics only in Nairobi and provincial general hospitals. Experts and civil society groups agree that the lack of budget, corruption and bureaucracy are the main factors from which the problem arises. The head of Disease Control of the Ministry of Healthcare has appealed to local pharmaceutical companies based in Africa so that they assume a greater role in the worldwide market for drugs. "Producing drugs locally would reduce not only costs but also the time to get them and to treat patients. Many people die for lack of basic medicines such as anesthetics, which are not used during surgery", he said. The state-controlled agency in charge of administration and distribution of drugs (KEMSA) is responsible for the planning and distribution of drugs in all health centers in the country. However, the authorities say they do not have enough money to cover the whole territory and that it is also used to closely follow the shortage and distribution in more than 4 000 public centers throughout the country. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 07/08/2011)