Audit shows Sh3.7bn gamble on dialysis machines has paid off
A new audit reveals that Kenya's Sh3.7 billion investment in dialysis machines through the Managed Equipment Services (MES) program has become profitable after six years. While the program significantly increased access to life-saving treatment, researchers note that underutilization in some hospitals limits its full potential.
Why it matters
The findings provide a rare financial assessment of a major public-private partnership in healthcare, offering lessons for future infrastructure investments.
A medic working on a dialysis machine/HANDOUT
The plan to procure kidney dialysis machines for every county has finally paid off according to the team that implemented the project.
The project was part of the Managed Equipment Services (MES), signed in 2015. It brought dialysis machines to 54 public hospitals across the 47 counties at a cost of Sh3.7 billion.
Former Health Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri who helped design and implement the MES programme, teamed up with implementing colleague Dr Ephantus Njagi and four others to analyse whether the programme actually paid off.
They found that the dialysis component of the MES programme broke even after six years and from the seventh year, has been delivering a 19.76 per cent return on investment. However, many hospitals are not making full use of the dialysis machines, raising questions about whether the country is getting the best value from the investment.
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