Kemsa plans to put up Sh3.2m store in Nairobi

From left: Kenya Medical Supplies Authority CEO Jonah Mwangi, Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki and Indian High Commissioner to Kenya Suchitra Durai sampling medicines donated by the Government of India at Afya House in Nairobi on July 12,2018. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The new warehouse, he said, will save Kemsa lots money that is normally paid for leased warehouses.
  • The warehouse to be constructed in Embakasi will be funded by Global Fund, Kemsa and the government.

  • Dr Mwangi said the warehouse shall be custom-made for medical supplies.

The Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) plans to put up a Sh3.2 million drug store in Nairobi to meet increased demand.

Kemsa's new chief executive Dr Jonah Mwangi said this was aimed at ensuring the organisation makes significant contribution to Universal Health Coverage by ensuring sustainable availability of quality, safe and affordable essential medicines and medical supplies.

“I am committed to ensure that we work with stakeholders to identify their needs and provide leadership to the management to remain committed to the call of duty. I will ensure that supplier management is streamlined,” Dr Mwangi told the Sunday Nation yesterday during an interview in his office.

LEASE

The new warehouse, he said, will save Kemsa lots money that is normally paid for leased warehouses and facilitate effective operations as all staff will be based in one site. “Due to the constrained capacity, we normally lease from other companies and we pay them. With the new store in place, the money will be saved for other things,” he said.

The warehouse to be constructed in Embakasi will be funded by Global Fund, Kemsa and the government.

Dr Mwangi said the warehouse shall be custom-made for medical supplies.

Before his appointment, Dr Mwangi was Nakuru county health executive.

SECURE

His appointment was announced last week by the Kemsa board chairman Andrew Onyach.

Dr Mwangi succeeded Fredrick Wanyonyi, who was serving in an acting capacity from December 2017.

It is expected that the new boss will steer the organisation to new heights as the country seeks to achieve the Big Four Agenda as outlined by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

He argued that there is need for reliable warehousing and supply chain systems to allow healthcare practitioners to access safe, secure, reliable supply of medicine in line with best-practice.

SPACE

“With the growing disease burden and outbreaks, we need to have reliable supply of essential medicines; this will be met by the new strategies that we are putting in place. We are going to ensure that all the drugs will be stocked since space will not be a problem,” Dr Mwangi said.

With more focus now shifting to the counties, Kemsa is expected to play a key role as the national government seeks to manage the disease burden in the country.

In the recent past, the agency has been blamed for inefficiencies in supplies with far-flung counties bearing the brunt.

An estimated 70 per cent of medical commodities that county governments purchase are sourced from Kemsa.

CLIENTS

Kemsa currently serves 371 hospitals, 4,415 rural health facilities and 5,047 sites that offer rapid testing across Kenya.

The agency said it has managed to remain competitive because of its pricing structure that puts a slight mark-up on the commodities it sells to public facilities.

Kemsa, which falls under the Ministry of Health, offers procurement, warehousing and distribution services for medical commodities for clients like USAid, World Bank and the Global Fund.