New unit set up by KEMSA in Kenya sets stage for cheaper drugs

Public sector medicine supplier Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) has established a new division that will sell health care products to private hospitals in a move that could cool the soaring cost of drug in the country, report Health Action International Africa.

The agency currently supplies 40% of public hospitals’ medical needs for free - funded by the government - while the rest, 60%, is paid by the hospitals. Now, the state-owned firm is seeking a piece of the multi-billion shilling private sector market in what will put it in a head-to-head battle with pharmaceutical firms such as multinationals GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, as well as India’s Cipla.

John Munyu, chief executive of KEMSA, attributed the shift to the need to provide affordable medicine both in private and public hospitals and its quest to grow its financial muscle. “The intention is to ensure supplies to all medical institutions in the country are at an affordable cost,” he said, adding: “It will be a supermarket of its own kind. We want to move out of our traditional way of serving only public health facilities in the country and reach out to other medical providers who face challenges in acquisition of medical commodities.”