The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) plans to digitize its services by October 20th this year to enable efficient stock monitoring.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Andrew Mulwa said the authority is not just working on automation but developing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that will be able to digitize health products and technologies ecosystem.
Mulwa said the system will enable patients and clients at home have an interface through which they can check their nearest dispensary whether it has drugs or not, with the nurse at the facility able to check the drugs and stock level from their gadgets.
“As KEMSA we can be able to see what is available at facility level and county level so that we may know a certain county has gone low on stock level of a drug and start planning for their stock,” he said during editor’s retreat in Mombasa.
He also added that the authority will be able to trace every commodity that reaches a patient and look at disease trends and conduct surveillance on drugs uptake.
The CEO revealed that the rolling out of the digitization process which will be done by October, will start from KEMSA, working with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and linking up to the Integrated Health management System.
He urged counties to allocate sufficient budgets for medical supplies saying it is a challenge in some counties as the budget cannot sustain even a sub-county.
“I recognize the value that counties have for KEMSA to deliver in its mandate, if the counties will be able to focus and quantify the drugs and other health products that they require, we will be able to serve them well,” he said.
