World Bank Podcasts

It is a large warehouse, with racks up to the ceiling. It is big, bright and humming with activity. Workers in white coats are going through purchase orders, using hand held scanners to pick items off the shelves: bottles of cough syrup, inhalers, syringes, antibiotics. We are in Nairobi, at the warehouse of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority also known by its acronym - KEMSA. It is a state owned company with the mandate to procure, warehouse and distribute healthcare commodities to public health facilities across the country. Dr. John Munyu, chief executive officer at KEMSA: “With the coming of the devolved system of government in the year 2013, the health system underwent a paradigm shift. Previously health was centrally controlled by the central government from Nairobi, but with the adoption of the devolved system of government, the 47 counties are now responsible for health services management in their own counties. Therefore, KEMSA had to change its business model, we had to look at our architectu