Kemsa assures counties of drugs supply amid mounting debts
By Reuben Mwambingu, February 20, 2025Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa), Chief Executive Officer Ejersa Waqo has assured Kenyans that the authority is striving to permanently surmount the perennial challenge of drugs shortage in an effort to achieve smooth realisation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Speaking in Mombasa on the side-lines of a meeting bringing together Board and senior management of Kemsa to review performance and discuss implementation of their strategic plan, Waqo said addressing drug security is a top priority.
“Of course, there are issues standing our way such as the issues of long standing debts by counties and other stakeholders that we do business with. We are in talking terms with them, governors and management of the counties, to have these debts settled as soon as possible,” the CEO noted.
He said the authority is banking on the existing laws around the Social Health Authority (SHA), and the facility improvement fund (FIF), which collects revenue from public health facilities to pay for their ongoing costs.
Currently, Kemsa’s order fill rate stands at 56 per cent, but when factoring in back-order fulfilment, orders completed once stock is replenished, the rate rises to 65 per cent.
“That is not our target; our target is about 80 to 90 per cent. We are on our way there and that is why we are here to review our performance,” Waqo said.
According to the Kemsa boss the authority is taking significant steps intended to bolster operational efficiency and financial sustainability. This, he said, they seek to achieve by engaging consultants to assess their strategic direction to help them identify critical issues related to order fill rates, turnaround time and overall financial sustainability.
“This approach is designed to place Kemsa at a good position in the healthcare supply chain, ensuring that it meets the needs of its consumers and the community it serves effectively,” he said.
Kemsa chairman Samuel Tanui affirmed the authority’s commitment to playing a crucial role in the success of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) programme under Social Health Authority (SHA), which currently serves over 19.5 million enrolees.
“We have the capacity to procure, store, and distribute medical supplies efficiently,” Tanui stated in Mombasa.
On several occasions, health facilities in some counties like Taita Taveta have struggled with glaring shortage of basic drugs like amoxicillin, antibiotics, theatre drugs and paediatric analgesics, drugs for non-communicable diseases among others, a situation which has increasingly continued to adversely affect service delivery in county hospitals.
As late as last year at least 27 counties were reportedly on the red line after Kemsa stopped supplying them due to accrued Sh2.88 billion debts then owed by devolved which ended up running out of essential life-saving drugs.
The affected counties are Nairobi, Mombasa, Homa Bay, Kakamega, Nyamira, Trans Nzoia, Nakuru, Busia, Kisumu, Tana River, Kilifi, Kwale, Garissa, Murang’a, Meru, West Pokot, Samburu, Turkana, Marsabit, Mandera, Migori, Kiambu, Isiolo, Kwale, Vihiga, Taita-Taveta and Tharaka-Nithi.