Kenya is committed to strengthening Africa’s health security and advancing local manufacturing of health products through enhanced collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Principal Secretary (PS) for Medical Services, Dr. Ouma Oluga, said Kenya remains committed to supporting continental initiatives that improve access to affordable, quality, and essential health commodities.
Dr Oluga made the remarks during a courtesy call by the Africa CDC Mission on the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM).
Dr. Oluga noted that the APPM complements Kenya’s ongoing health sector reforms under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC), particularly in strengthening health financing, commodity security, digital health systems, and health workforce development.
He welcomed continued collaboration with Africa CDC and other partners in implementing pooled procurement mechanisms, strengthening supply chain resilience, and promoting local pharmaceutical manufacturing across the continent.
The discussions highlighted progress in expanding vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in Africa, as well as opportunities to reduce procurement costs through pooled purchasing arrangements.
Kenya also reaffirmed its support for the operationalisation of the APPM Memorandum of Understanding and the promotion of African-manufactured medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, and medical devices.
The Principal Secretary underscored the importance of local manufacturing in enhancing health security, creating jobs, and driving sustainable economic growth across Africa.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
