Kenya Medical Supplies Agency Chief Executive Officer Dr Gulacha Waqo has called on governors to pay the debts owed to the institution to enable it pay its suppliers in addition to purchasing drugs required by the counties.
Dr Waqo, who was speaking during a courtesy call to Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wisley Rotich, said the monies owed was adequate to sufficiently supply drugs and other medical supplies to health facilities in the country.
He said Kemsa would also be meeting with Governors to determine the amount of money from the refunds the facilities receive from the Social Health Authority (SHA) will be allocated to drugs.
“This will ensure that the money is directly paid to Kemsa therefore making sure that drugs are supplied on time to the facilities,” he said.
Noting that provision of drugs was one of the challenges facing the implementation of SHA, the CEO said once facilities have drugs, no patient will spend extra money to buy the same.
He said it was their mandate to ensure that universal health coverage through SHA is a reality in the country and that all Kenyans can access quality health services without spending from their pockets.
He hailed the Elgeyo Marakwet County Government for allowing facilities to spend 50% of the monies refunded through SHA to buy drugs saying there was no need of the facilities to have money lying idle yet there were no drugs.
Dr Waqo said SHA was succeeding saying some health facilities deep in the rural areas have claimed over a million shillings monies that they can now use to improve services offered.
He added that Kemsa had put in place the Integrated Logistics Management Information System (ILMIS) which ensures that counties can order drugs online.
“Through ILMIS, facilities are able to order the drugs they require, they are also able to see what drugs are available and order,” he said.
He said that each facility orders the drugs they require and send their request to the county pharmacist who then compiles all the county’s requests and sends them to kemsa.
He added that apart from health, the organization was also involved in tree planting in the county thus ensuring that they assist in environmental conservation which not only ensures good health but also ensuring the country hits its target of planting 15 billion trees by 2032.
By Alice Wanjiru
