The Chairman of the Board, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Prof. Abdulghafur El-Busaidy, has said that the certification of the Intravenous Fluid Production Unit (IVPU) to ISO 13485:2003 was a mark of excellence not only for the Manufacturing Department but for the entire Hospital.

He said that the certification was an enormous responsibility bestowed upon the institution, but expressed confidence that the Hospital Management would work towards sustainability of the Standard.

“The Hospital provides specialized quality healthcare for local and referred patients and also offers facilities for medical training and research. There are currently over 800 beds serving residents from Western Kenya with an estimated population of about 20 million people. MTRH serves parts of Eastern Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and the Southern Sudan,” he said.

Prof. Abdulghafur, who was speaking during the celebrations to mark the ISO certifications on August 22, 2012, called on the Minister for Medical Services, Prof. Peter A. Nyong’o to provide requisite medical equipment and adequate financial resources in order for the Hospital to fully discharge its mandate, adding that the facility already has highly-skilled personnel.

“The per capita expenditure falls short of the Government’s commitment to spend 15 percent of its total budget on health, as agreed in the Abuja Declaration. The under-financing of the health sector has thus reduced its ability to ensure an adequate level of service provision to the population,” he cautioned.

He said that the Board was aware that the Government of Kenya has been pursuing a policy of cost-sharing to bridge the gap between actual budgets and the level of resources needed to fund public health sector activities.“The revenue from the cost-sharing programme has continued to grow in absolute terms and as a percentage of the recurrent government budget. But still, this is inadequate,” he emphasized.