Following an outcry against the lack of Asthma drugs and inhalers in the country, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha issued a new directive for Kenyans who are currently suffering from the disease.
The CS, on Friday, January 26 urged the patients to seek other alternatives.
"Even though Ventolin is out of stock, alternative drugs are available on the market. We urge patients to use generic medicine, which is recommended by WHO," she stated.
Nakhumicha further attributed the drug shortage to challenges in the supply chain of drugs.
With this, she asked the patients to seek generic Salbutamol inhaler brands which she claimed are still stocked in the country.
"At KEMSA (Kenya Medical Supplies Authority), we have the Salbutamol inhaler, which then goes to public facilities. So I am not sure what private facilities are doing but good practice is that they should have the alternative, which is the Salbutamol inhaler," she stated.
The CS, on Thursday, January 25, visited local chemists to check if they had stocked inhalers and Ventolin, only to find none.
To avoid similar situations in the future, she announced that her ministry was working on integrating health management systems and linking them to KEMSA to enable counties to track their stock levels.
Her clarification follows an uproar by the members of the public, who having taken to different social media pages, voiced their outcry over the lack of medicines at local stores.
"Due to the shortage of Ventolin inhalers, we are compelled to spend a significant amount of time and money on syringes. Your assistance in addressing this matter would be greatly appreciated," one user shared on social media, X platform.
Consequently, pharmacists also claimed that the popular Ventolin inhaler, made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), was completely unavailable.
Meanwhile, Salbutamol inhaler brands which the CS recommended were also reported to be in short supply after the prices increased.
