The government has moved to regulate drug prices in a bid to cut down the cost of healthcare.
Health CS Sicily Kariuki said they are in talks with pharmaceuticals to ensure drug prices are the same countrywide.
These reforms include standardising procedures and practices in pricing and distribution of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical supplies, and review and updating of all essential commodity lists.
“We have witnessed well-documented overpriced medicines in our chemists and even government facilities. How do we attain universal healthcare if we sell drugs at a profit margin of 400 per cent,” Sicily said.
The CS spoke when she officially opened the three-day Horn of Africa Pharmaceutical Conference and Expo in Nairobi on Wednesday.
She said once the issues are agreed on, medicines will come from the manufacturer with the prices indicated on the package.
She said too many pharmacies and chemists are mushrooming in the estates “just like sukuma wiki businesses” and urged Kenyans to be vigilant and report unlicensed establishments to avoid “buying chalk thinking it is medicine”.
Kariuki said it’s strange that medicine produced in Kenya is sold cheaply in Rwanda.