The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) has dispatched necessary medical supplies worth Sh380 million to counties ahead of Easter.
The Authority’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Kabuchi stated the drought-stricken counties in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) would be served first to give a proper cushion for primary health management.
Nutritional supplements and rehydration solutions, as well as critical medicines, will be delivered to such counties, he said.
He also stated that the authority has increased stakeholder engagement efforts led by the Kemsa Board of Directors and Management in order to unlock the settlement of outstanding dues from several counties totalling more than Sh2.7 billion in order to expand the national scope of the Universal Health Coverage agenda.
Increased county revenues will also allow Kemsa to expedite payments to its suppliers, which include local manufacturers, he said.
Kabuchi further noted Kilifi, Nakuru, Laikipia, Nyeri, Meru, West Pokot, Turkana, Kisii and Makueni counties had no outstanding debts with Kemsa.
“Kemsa has registered a significant improvement in its organisational efficiency that is also highlighted by the improved Order Turn Around Time.
Using Information Technology Systems to support organisational agility and simplify business processes, we have reduced the Order Turn Around Time from 46 days in February 2021 to 16 days at the end of February 2022 and automated several functions.
By the end of the first quarter, we successfully managed to record a milestone with the dispatch of Programme and EMMS supplies amounting to more than Kshs.9.73 billion.
The dispatch of more than 32,000 orders was to more than 7,600 health facilities in all 47 counties,” Kabuchi said.
Kemsa has increased capacity-building activities at the county level as part of Customer Relationship Management, he said.
Technical validation on operational measures such as optimising ordering processes, including inventory management, quality management, and pharmacovigilance is part of the project.
Following the flag off ahead of the Easter holidays, some counties are scheduled to begin receiving medical supplies.
The Ministry of Health created this list to recognise the disease burdens in each of the counties, allowing KEMSA to order Essential Medicines and Medical Supplies (EMMS) on a case-by-case basis.
Nutrition, malaria, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH), HIV/AIDS and Non-Communicable Diseases, Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, and Immunisation are among the national strategic priority programmes for which the counties will receive orders.
With the formal activation of an automated purchase order generation system late last week, Kemsa announced that it had turned a new page in its procurement excellence journey.
Kemsa has launched an automated Local Purchase Order (LPO) creation process as part of its transformation path, which includes integrating information technology platforms.
The authority’s ethics and integrity assurance plan includes automating the procurement process and eliminating manual operations that require human interaction, such as the issue of LPO.