Kiambu County Government has embarked on the construction of a Central Medical Store in efforts to consolidate medical supplies and address drug shortages.
The warehouse whose construction has commenced at Ruiru Level 4 Hospital will be completed in six months’ time. It will deal with the procurement, storage and distribution of all medical supplies coming into the county.
Speaking after launching its construction, Kiambu Governor Dr. James Nyoro said the warehouse would be able to store about 4 tons of refrigerated drugs and another 40 tons of other materials that do not deserve special storage.
The store will be constructed using the latest technology especially in ventilation and aeration to offer a conducive environment for drug storage.
It will come as a relief to the county government which has been facing shortages of drugs, especially those that required refrigeration.
“This is like streamlining the medical supplies chain since it will be easier to identify shortages in the county’s drug stock and address the gap once established,” he said.
Nyoro said the warehouse would be connected to a Health Management system that would be linked to all the hospitals in the County. This will help in identifying drug shortages that has been a concern in several hospitals in the area.
He said through the new computerised system that would be connected to the hospitals, the store would boost effectiveness and provide timely medical services to patients.
“How we operated is once we bought medicine, it used to be taken straight to hospitals and health centres for use. This way, it is difficult to establish if there are shortages of any type of medicine. The computerised system will be able to inform you that there is a shortage of a certain drug in one hospital and be able to address the shortage in the shortest time possible,” said Nyoro.
By Muoki Charles
