A group of 81 Breast Cancer patients at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) have been forced to delay their treatment after the hospital ran out of a crucial drug four weeks ago.
As part of the Herceptin Access programme which was started in 2016, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, Roche, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, was to supply the drug known as Herceptin for free at KNH where the patients had been enrolled.
In an agreement signed in May last year, the ministry was to cover 50 percent of the cost while the company catered for the other half in a move meant to increase accessibility to the vital drug which would otherwise cost patients Sh250,000 per dose or Ksh4.5 million for the entire 18-dose regimen.
The ministry is, however, being accused of going back on the deal and even threatening to pull out of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), leaving patients facing an uncertain future.
Several patients were on Tuesday turned away at the KNH oncology pharmacy despite some of them having travelled long distances in search of the drug.
[caption caption="File image of a protester at Kenyatta National Hospital"]
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Efforts by Kenyans.co.ke to get an explanation from the Ministry of Health on Tuesday morning were unfruitful as we were informed that top officials including the Principal Sercretary Peter Tum were unavailable.
KNH, when contacted, refererred us back to the Ministry of Health.
Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary-General Ouma Oluga told Kenyans.co.ke that they would need to establish facts of the matter from KNH and the Ministry of Health before issuing a response.
Cancer treatments are meant to be highly consistent to increase chances of success, and delaying doses more often than not leads to deterioration in the patient's condition.
“When a patient is diagnosed and put on treatment early enough, her condition improves. However, if the drug is administered intermittently and based on government’s willingness to pay, then it is equivalent to delaying death in these patients,” an unnamed source close to the deal told Nation.
[caption caption="Kenyatta National Hospital"]
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