Senate Deputy Speaker Kathuri Murungi has through his Kamashinani Foundation donated drugs worth Sh12.5 million to Meru county government.
Kamashinani Foundation partnered with EK Foundation to donate the cetrizine tablets. The drugs will be distributed to all the hospitals within Meru county for the next two years.
Speaking at Meru Teaching and Referral hospital while handing over the consignment, Murungi who is the founder and Patron of Kamashinani Foundation said the drugs are meant to help curb allergy cases in the County and promised to donate more if need arises in future.
“Today Kamashinani Foundation in partnership with EK Foundation has donated the drugs that will be distributed to all the hospitals within Meru county,” said the Meru senator.
Cetrizine is an antihistamine used to relief allergy symptoms such as watery eyes, runny nose, itching eyes/nose, sneezing and itching
The senator said he will continue collaborating with the county government in providing medical services to the community and called on other donors to support the initiative.
He also called on the county government to provide them with statistics of various drugs needed in different parts of the county in order to enable them intervene, noting the move will eradicate wastage because drugs will be provided on need basis.
“I urge the administration to provide us with the data to enable us intervene. If statistics indicate that the allergy has exceeded we will bring more drugs. We don’t want to donate drugs which will be dumped, ” said Senator Murungi.
He lauded the administration for accepting the donation noting many institutions refuse to receive assistance given by politicians.
Murungi said his gesture should be viewed as service to community and not politics.
He said the conditional grant that the county gets from Treasury and the money allocated to the county government is not enough to cater for the health needs of residents, adding that partnerships were the way to go.
The legislator said EK Foundation, through the Kamashinani Foundation, will be bringing in more drugs and other medical supplies that will go a long way in supporting medical facilities.
He also lauded President William Ruto for the new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) noting that it will help cover millions of Kenyans who could not afford to pay hospital charges due to lack of a medical cover.
The Hospital Acting CEO Dr Leah Moriasi said the hospital needs about one billion worth of medication in order to be able to fully cater for diverse patients.
She hailed the foundation for the timely donation noting they are only able to provide about 25 to 30 percent of medical resources needed with the donation bridging the gap.
Expressing similar sentiments, Meru County Director Health Administration Dr Koome Muthuri said they will continue collaborating with like minded people to provide continuous and satisfactory healthcare services to the community.
Last year, Kamashinani and EK Foundation signed a partnership agreement to intervene and support the existing cancer centre at Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital in a bid to curb rising cases of cancer in the County.
The Foundation also donated 10 computers to the hospital.
