Kenya’s Health Ministry Announces Critical Drug Stockout
The Ministry of Health has issued a warning that the Kenya Medical Supply Authority (KEMSA) is now experiencing a medicine and other health supply shortage.
During a press event on Tuesday, April 1, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale stated that the shortfall was due to a lack of funds to refill health supplies and technology at KEMSA.
According to the CS, the current order-to-fill rate for health products at KEMSA is 43%.
“The current order fill rate at KEMSA stands at 43 per cent. This is due to the fact that KEMSA is facing stockouts due to a lack of finances to replenish health products and technologies,” he said.
However, Duale stated that the government intends to recapitalise KEMSA with Ksh1.5 billion in the supplementary budget and is also seeking a Ksh5 billion loan to ensure that the order fill rate reaches 90%.
Duale stated that replenishing KEMSA supplies is critical to increasing local health product manufacturing and lowering medical commodity costs.
“To ensure KEMSA order fill rate goes up to 90 per cent,” he said.
— Ministry of Health (@MOH_Kenya) April 1, 2025
“To achieve this, recapitalisation of Ksh1.5 billion to KEMSA is to be provided through the Supplementary Budget and negotiating for a credit facility of up to Ksh5B to be provided to KEMSA guaranteeing commodity security across the country.”
The announcement comes just days after the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that Kenya is one of seven nations at risk of running out of HIV medication supplies.
This comes after the Trump administration halted US foreign aid.
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Other countries that may face a scarcity of essential commodities as a result of the US grant reduction include Haiti, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, and Ukraine.
The WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated this at a press conference on Monday, March 17.
“The disruptions to HIV programs could undo 20 years of progress,” he said.
“The United States has a responsibility to ensure that if it withdraws direct funding for countries, it’s done in an orderly and humane way that allows them to find alternative sources of funding,” he added.
Kenya’s Health Ministry Announces Critical Drug Stockout
