• The supplies are worth more than Sh38.5 million.
• The assorted medical commodities include pharmaceuticals like antibiotics and antidiabetic drugs, among others.
The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority in conjunction with the Kirinyaga county government, dispatched seven trucks with medical supplies to more than 66 health centres on Tuesday.
The supplies are worth more than Sh38.5 million.
The assorted medical commodities include pharmaceuticals like antibiotics and antidiabetic drugs, among others as well as programme items such as malaria and family planning supplies to take care of over 635,000 Kirinyaga residents.
They will be delivered as part of Kemsa’s last-mile delivery solutions.
Speaking at a flag-off event for the supplies at Wang'uru town, Kemsa sales and marketing officer, Beatrice King’ori, flanked by Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, said the medical supplies aligned to the Essential Medicines List for the County, would be delivered to all the health centres under a quality assured supply chain model.
"At Kemsa, we have streamlined our supply chain model that allows us to guarantee rapid deliveries to the farthest corner of Kirinyaga County for the benefit of more than 635,000 county residents," King’ori said.
She added that, "These medical supplies consignment to 66 health centres was ordered last Wednesday and prepared for delivery on Monday.
"As we celebrate Mashujaa Day, most of the health centres will have received their supplies."
King’ori pointed out that Kemsa has streamlined its operations to provide a foundation for the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda during the event.
These reforms include strategic partnerships with key players such as county governments to deliver quality-assured medical supplies.
Waiguru described the county's partnership with Kemsa as a strategic effort to uplift the quality of healthcare provision.
She reiterated her commitment to transforming the health sector in the county through the building of new medical facilities, upgrading the existing ones, and addressing the welfare of healthcare workers.
She confirmed that the county government has continued to invest heavily in the development of purpose-built health infrastructure.
"We have developed the health infrastructure in Kirinyaga County, and we shall continue to maintain a strategic partnership with Kemsa to ensure the stocking of all our health centres with the appropriate medical supplies," Waiguru said.
Under a dedicated operating model tuned to ensure on-time supply of crucial medical supplies, Kemsa has maintained a more than 98% service availability level to more than 8,000 public health centres in the 47 counties countrywide.
Kemsa is known for quality services thanks to the commitment of its suppliers, who adhere to strict quality assurance standards.
Within the Authority's reform agenda, King’ori said the Authority had activated supplier performance measurement tools to raise the quality standards to world-class benchmarks and ensure value for money to the Kenyan taxpayer.
Kemsa has re-engineered many of its financial management and procurement processes to guarantee excellence by providing critical assurance of ethical conduct to its stakeholders.
"All our stakeholders can rest assured that we have instituted various covert and overt oversight frameworks to guard against the loss of taxpayers and donor funds through procurement processes manipulation," King’ori said.
Having undertaken extensive integrity adjustments at Kemsa, prospective suppliers to the Authority, including local manufacturers and disadvantaged groups (AGPO), are required to maintain very high ethical operating standards.