Drugs Worth Sh1.2 Billion Expire as Kenyan Hospitals Grapple with Shortage

Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) is on the spot after it emerged that drugs worth Sh1.2 billion have expired or are about to expire even as hospitals countrywide grapple with a severe shortage of medicines.

Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has summoned top Kemsa officials led by CEO Jonah Mwangi to explain why this has happened under their watch.

The Business Daily reports that the affected drugs were sourced from the Global Fund and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Drugs and other supplies valued at Sh2.5 million have already expired while others worth Sh213.4 million must reach patients within the next one month.

Additionally, 106 drugs worth Sh1 billion have a shelf-life of about seven months, which is a relatively short period as per best pharmaceutical practices.

Some of the expired the drugs stored in the agency's warehouses include HIV test kits, Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Abacavir/Lamivudine, Tenofovir /Dolutegravir, and Omeprazole capsules.

This comes even as public hospitals across the country continue to grapple with a shortage of drugs and other key medical supplies.

This is not the first time Kemsa has been on the spotlight over the expiry of drugs in its warehouses.

In September last, drugs whose value was estimated at Sh252 million are said to have expired in the agency's stores.

Kemsa, however, blamed this to the industrial action staged by Kenyan health workers.