The Ministry of Health has opposed plans to strip the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) exclusive rights to supply medications and medical kits to county and national health facilities.
According to Principal Secretary for Health Susan Mochache, allowing counties to bypass Kemsa, would result in costlier pharmaceuticals from private pharmaceutical companies, delaying the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021, has provisions to abolish Kemsa’s monopoly by changing the law and allowing counties to choose their own suppliers for medications and medical kits.
PS Mochache told the Senate Committee on Health on Thursday that “Kemsa should remain as the first point of call for procurement, warehousing, and distribution of Health Products and Technologies (HPTs) mentioned in relevant essential lists at the county referral hospital,” she said.
She went on to say that lawmakers should change the law to ring-fence county allocations in order to pay Kemsa’s debts.
The government’s opposition to the Bill demonstrates its desire to protect Kemsa from losing its single largest customer cluster, which could severely impact its sales.
In reference to the latest Auditor-General report, counties owed Kemsa Sh2.64 billion in June 2019, which is twice the amount owed by the Ministry of Health, indicating the lucrative business that Kemsa receives from the devolved units.
The Ministry claims that keeping the State agency as the sole supplier ensures stock availability, despite the distribution issues that have plagued the pharmaceutical industry in recent years.
Senators unanimously passed the bill during its Second Reading last month, signaling the lawmakers’ desire to end Kemsa’s monopoly, which has resulted in counties receiving drugs nearing expiration due to bureaucracy in drug distribution.
The agency is currently embroiled in a Covid-19 kit procurement scandal that is said to have resulted in billions of shillings in losses, prompting President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene by dissolving its top management.
