Principal Secretary for Health Susan Mochache told Parliament that stripping Kemsa of the rights will lead to expensive drugs from private suppliers and derail attainment of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The government’s opposition to the Bill highlights its intent to protect KEMSA from losing its single biggest customer by segment.
An Auditor-General report shows counties owed Kemsa Sh2.64 billion in the year June 2019 which was twice the amount owed by the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of Health has opposed plans to strip the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) of exclusive rights to sell drugs and medical kits to county and national health facilities.
Principal Secretary for Health Susan Mochache told Parliament that stripping Kemsa of the rights will lead to expensive drugs from private suppliers and derail attainment of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The proposals are contained in the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks to change the law and give county health facilities a free hand to choose private suppliers for drugs and medical kits.
“Kemsa should remain as the first point of call for procurement, warehousing and distribution of Health Products and Technologies (HPTs) listed in relevant essential lists at the county referral hospital,” PS Mochache told the Senate Committee on Health yesterday.
Ms Mochache added that lawmakers should instead change the law and ring-fence in county allocations for the payment of debts owed to Kemsa.
The government’s opposition to the Bill highlights its intent to protect KEMSA from losing its single biggest customer by segment.
An Auditor-General report shows counties owed Kemsa Sh2.64 billion in the year June 2019 which was twice the amount owed by the Ministry of Health, highlighting the lucrative business that Kemsa gets from the devolved units.
The Ministry hinged its opposition to the Bill on grounds that retaining Kemsa as the first source for the counties guarantees availability of stocks despite supply hitches facing the supply of drugs and medical kits in recent years.
Senate unanimously passed the Bill last month highlighting the lawmakers’ push to end Kemsa’s monopoly which has seen counties receive drugs that are nearing expiry due to bureaucracy in the distribution of the drugs.
Kemsa is coming from the Covid procurement scandal that prompted President Uhuru Kenyatta to disband its top management.
President Kenyatta in November last year appointed The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and National Youth Service (NYS) to run the agency setting the stage for declaring redundancies or terminating the services of more than 900 staff.
The restructuring comes as the State agency grapples with lack of financial controls, uncollected debts, supply chain crisis, warehousing and distribution problems, deadstock and purchase of non-priority items.
