Kenya Medical Supplies Authority : A Case Study of the Ongoing Transition from an Ungainly Bureaucracy to a Competitive and Customer-Focused Medical Logistics Organization
The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) is a state-owned health logistics service company with the core mandate to procure, warehouse and distribute healthcare commodities to public sector health facilities and other public sector customers. S...
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| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/04/20330086/kenya-medical-supplies-authority-kemsa-case-study-ongoing-transition-ungainly-bureaucracy-competitive-customer-focused-medical-logistics-organization http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20807 |
| Summary: | The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority
(KEMSA) is a state-owned health logistics service company
with the core mandate to procure, warehouse and distribute
healthcare commodities to public sector health facilities
and other public sector customers. Since the inception of
KEMSA in 2000 there have been multiple projects and
initiatives to improve the performance of KEMSA. However,
despite these efforts, and until recently KEMSA had
struggled to effectively demonstrate any sustained
improvements in performance. In the last 3-4 years, KEMSA
under its new leadership has shown sustained improvements in
performance, accountability and transparency. In the last
year, the Government of Kenya has embarked on the devolution
of health financing to the counties to ensure that services
are delivered effectively and efficiently to communities.
The devolution has resulted in a significant change in the
way KEMSA receives monies for carrying out its activities.
Of particular relevance is that the devolution has led to
ordering and payment for drugs and health commodities by
counties. This required KEMSA to reconfigure its business
model to serve the 47 counties in Kenya as its customers.
The World Bank, through its Health Sector Support Project
(HSSP), capitalized KEMSA in order to meet working capital
needs that would arise under the new devolved system of
financing. Competitive pressures arising from devolution and
the new business model, a new management structure with
strong leadership and governance, technical support from
development partners such as the World Bank and United
States Agency for International Development (USAID), and
greater flexibilities arising from KEMSA s change of status
to a public authority together are converging to create a
new KEMSA. It is an opportune time to study the state of
reforms at KEMSA, highlight the successes, and develop ideas
for meeting the challenges ahead. The ongoing transformation
of KEMSA from a bureaucratic state-run medicines supply
agency to a more independent and competitive medical
logistics authority is an important milestone and it
presents opportunities for other countries to learn from the
successes and failures at KEMSA. |
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