KRA destroys Sh3m drugs donated to Kenyatta National Hospital for diabetic children over tax tussle

A consignment of donated diabetes drugs held at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has gone bad awaiting clearance arising from a tax tussle.

The insulin worth Sh3 million meant for the treatment of about 250 diabetic children at Kenyatta National Hospital has been lying at JKIA since February this year after Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) confiscated them over tax. KRA allowed the destruction of the drug.

Health workers at the national referral hospital and parents to the diabetic children now decry the tussle between KRA and the hospital that has resulted in the drugs being rendered unfit for use by the young ailing patients because they were removed from refrigeration at JKIA. Their hope for quick recovery at a lesser cost now remains elusive.

The insulin, 4,500 vials, was donated by International Diabetes Federation to Kenyatta National Hospital, which is struggling with shortage of the same. The target beneficiaries for this donation were children with diabetes and who cannot afford to incur the cost of insulin necessary for one to rescue their lives. This critical drug that retails at Sh550 per vial.

KNH Chief Executive Lily Koros, told The Standard on Saturday that they had been in talks with KRA on the diabetes drugs to solve the stalemate. “Last week, I sent KNH drug experts to JKIA to find out the condition of the drugs at the airport,” Ms Koros said on phone from Vienna where she is on official duty.

Sources yesterday said when the tussle on tax arose, KNH paid Sh60,000 for the drugs meant to benefit their patients, only to be informed that they had been removed from refrigeration and thus not recommended for use.

KNH is now being asked to foot the costs incurred for the storage of the drugs at Sh300,000 yet they are no longer useful because they were not stored as required.

But KRA's Chief Manager, Marketing and Communication, Maureen Njongo, last night said that the consignment came in through the passenger terminal but the importer did not present the permit as required by the Ministry of Health.

"We cannot release the consignment until we get the permit," she said. She explained that the importation of medicines is regulated by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board under the Ministry of Health. "Customs officers at entry points are required to establish that importers of human medicaments have a permit for such import," Ms Njongo said.

Unaffordable treatment

Kenya is classified as one of the top five countries with the highest costs of diabetes care in Sub-Saharan Africa besides South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ghana with the daily economic cost of diabetes and its complications deemed unaffordable by most Sub-Saharan Africans.

“We have worked tirelessly to get that insulin to benefit 250 children in our programme for a period of one year and it is quite tragic that a disagreement on a well-meant donation has gone down the drain,” a source at KNH  told The Standard on Saturday.

The Ministry of Health, through Dr John Odondi, who is acting on behalf of the Director of Medical Services Nicholas Muraguri, said the donation could have been held at the airport due to failure to follow the correct procedure when processing donations.

“We get to learn about similar donations at the point of entry when they have been held by tax officials yet such information should be declared and communicated early in advance because we do not have money set aside to sort out such matters,” said Dr Odondi.

KNH Chief Pharmacist Tom Menge told The Standard on Saturday that the drugs had gone bad due to their removal from the cold room awaiting clearance.

“The medicine came in the name of an individual prompting KRA to institute a tax than treat it as a donation to KNH. It is unfortunate but in future, we will ensure any donation is addressed to the KNH Chief Executive and the communication delivered in advance,” said Dr Menge. However, it remains unclear why upon realizing the consignment was meant for KNH, KRA continued to demand tax from the hospital eventually paving way for the destruction of the drug.

The insulin drugs were originally stored under refrigeration given their delicate nature as the donor, International Diabetes Federation asked to declare the value of the goods but they stated that they did not have a commercial tag because they were not meant for resale.

Poor storage

Insulin requires delicate storage and should neither be exposed to excessive heat of sunlight or frozen.

Globally, health experts are concerned about the shift from active to dormant lifestyles which has seen the increase of lifestyle diseases like diabetes with Africa’s ailing healthcare systems urged to improve treatment and educate rapidly-urbanising populations about the causes and dangers of the chronic condition.

In Kenya, there is a growing concern on the rising numbers of young people below 18 years with Type2 diabetes.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Insulin injection is used to control blood sugar in people who have type 1 diabetes.

In September last year, drugs worth Sh375 million meant for the treatment of about 500 patients suffering from Leukaemia and stomach cancer was also been held at JKIA but were released after the Kenya Bureau of Standards waived the Sh900,000 inspection fee it was demanding.

KRA had also demanded Sh5.6 million Railways Development Levy with a patients’ advocacy group instituting talks with the ministry of Health and Treasury to give blanket waiver to medicines given as donations.