Thousands of Kenyans who had been denied access to vital medical services like dialysis due to malfunctioning medical equipment purchased through the Medical Equipment Services (MES) program now have hope.
This comes as the Ministry of Health and the Governors finally decided to add six months to the medical equipment service's usage period.
The parties mediated an agreement to have counties pay half of the amount that will be charged to operate and service the machines, with the national government covering the remaining half, at a meeting held at the Kenya School of Government in Kabete. The meeting was presided over by Council of Governors Chair Anne Waiguru and Health Cabinet Secretary Wafula Nakhumicha.
Both levels of government agreed to extend the period to include the final six months of the current fiscal year in the extension plan.
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According to the meeting behind closed doors, counties, and the federal government will split the payments that come with the extension.
The federal government will cover January through March 2024, and April through June 2024 will be covered by the counties.
The meeting decided that new MES contracts would be publicized in the 2024–2025 fiscal year.
Suppliers and vendors attending the joint meeting acknowledged uncertainty surrounding the program but also expressed some degree of comfort.
Nevertheless, they hoped that by the end of the negotiations, a definitive agreement would be reached regarding the move to the following stage of the multibillion-shilling program.
