Vihiga County Senator Godfrey Osotsi has called for urgent reforms of the policies guiding procurement, stocking and distribution of drugs in public hospitals.
Osotsi said that the reforms will end situations where public institutions stock expired drugs that compromises the safety of patients and the efficiency of inventory management in public healthcare systems.
“The presence of expired drugs in our hospitals points to a glaring failure in the healthcare supply chain that needs to be addressed and urgently,” he said.
He said that well-defined guidelines would help prevent overstocking that leads to wastage of public resources and improve service delivery.
He said that County governments must be compelled to implement clear and consistent policies governing procurement and distribution of drugs.
Osotsi requested a formal statement from the Senate Health Committee on Tuesday regarding the findings of a recent audit by the regulatory authorities which uncovered large quantities of expired drugs and medical supplies worth millions of shillings stored in public hospitals, particularly Level 5 and Level 6 facilities.
The senator wants the committee to come up with the total value of expired drugs in public hospitals for the last three financial years and address the gaps in the supply chain at Kemsa that could be the cause of the supply and delivery of drugs with a shorter lifespan.
Osotsi also wants the committee to address reasons why facilities continue to stock expire drugs, including possible involvement of county staff and other private health facilities in pilferage of medicines supplied to public health facilities.
National regulatory bodies - including the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB), the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya have initiated a nationwide campaign for the safe disposal of expired medications.
Under the program, such drugs must be surrendered to licensed pharmacists or designated health facilities, where they are collected for incineration at approved disposal sites in Nairobi and other urban centers.
