Siaya county has received Shs 44 million consignment of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical products from Kenya Medical Supply Authority (KEMSA) to replenish needs of public health facilities for the next two to three months
According to Siaya County Executive Committee Member for Health Dr. Martin Konyango a tracking mechanism has been put in place to monitor the flow of the drugs within hospitals and health facilities to reduce incidences of theft.
Dr. Konyango warned rogue individuals who are always on standby waiting for the arrival of the drugs for them to bolster their pharmacies and/or private hospitals at the expense of the County.
“This is a big plus to our Governor James Orengo in ensuring our hospitals are well equipped with drugs. Initially, we used to buy drugs outside our health facilities despite paying NHIF to aid us during these trying moments,” Clinton Siaya resident said.
The shipment was a relief to Siaya locals who were optimistic about cutting their road trips to nearby drugstores to purchase drugs after undergoing tests at the laboratory.
The drugs are set to be distributed to all the health facilities in all the Sub-Counties to ensure access to life-saving healthcare commodities.
The national drug distributor-Kemsa- has digitized the way it runs the stocks and the inventory to ensure efficiency and transparency in its operations in order to avoid delays and stock outs.
Currently, Kemsa serves more than 11,500 health facilities with the national supply chain centre in Embakasi.
The Embakasi supply centre is complemented by additional devolved network of 11 warehouses; four in Nairobi and seven spread across the towns of Eldoret, Kisumu, Meru, Mombasa, Nakuru and Nyeri.
Kemsa has been mandated with the procurement, warehousing and distribution of drugs and medical supplies for prescribed public health programs, the national strategic stock reserve, prescribed essential health packages and national referral hospitals.
