The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) is a specialised medical logistics provider for public health facilities and programmes. As a State corporation, KEMSA replaced successive medical stores administrations that had existed since 1901 under various names.

KEMSA supports the National Health Strategic Plan and the Kenya Health Package for Health providing public facilities with the right quantity and quality of drugs and medical supplies at the best market value. Its mission is to improve healthcare through efficient procurement and reliable distribution of quality medical commodities and promotion of rational drug use and practice. Its mandate is:

• Procure, warehouse and distribute drugs and medical supplies for prescribed public health programs, the national strategic stock reserve, prescribed essential health packages and national referral hospitals.
   
• Establish a network of storage, packaging and distribution facilities for the provision of drugs and medical supplies to health institutions.
   
• Enter into partnership with or establish frameworks with County Governments for purposes of providing services in procurement, warehousing, distribution of drugs and medical supplies.
   
• Collect information and provide regular reports to the national and county government's on the status and cost effectiveness of procurement, the distribution and value of prescribed essential medical supplies delivered to health facilities, stock status and on any other aspects of supply system status and performance which may be required by stakeholders.
   
• Support County Governments to establish and maintain appropriate supply chain systems for drugs and medical supplies.

 

As a medical logistics provider with the widest national coverage of 4,100 facilities, KEMSA works closely with the Government of Kenya (Ministries of Medical Services, Public Health & Sanitation and Finance), multi-lateral and bi-lateral aid organizations who finance healthcare such as: World Health Organisation, Unicef, Global Fund, USAid, Danida, Clinton Foundation, PEPFAR etc.