By: George Nzioka and Ronald Ngeno
Originally posted on VillageReach
No single actor can solve Kenya’s health challenges alone.
— Dr. Maureen Kimani, Head, Division of Community Health, Ministry of Health, Kenya.
Across Kenya, there is a growing recognition that effective delivery of health commodities up to the community level is essential for achieving universal health coverage. Over the past year, the Ministry of Health (MoH), working closely with VillageReach, county governments, Lwala Community Alliance, KEMSA and other committed partners, has intensified efforts to strengthen community health supply chains—ensuring that lifesaving medicines and tools consistently reach households in the most remote areas.
Kit Rollout Leads to New Insights
A major milestone in this journey was the nationwide rollout of standardized Community Health Promoter (CHP) kits. Beginning in late 2023, the MoH committed to supplying every CHP in the country with essential health commodities. By mid-2024, all 47 counties had received over 100,000 kits, containing tools such as blood pressure monitors, glucometers, malaria test kits, wound dressing materials, MUAC tapes, deworming tablets and pain relievers.
While this was a significant achievement, it also revealed critical gaps in the systems that support commodity flow to the community level. Health leaders and implementing partners identified key issues, including:
- Lack of Clear Guidelines and SOPs: Many counties lacked standardized procedures for storage, tracking, and resupply of the kits.
- Fragmented and Inadequate Data Systems: Information on stock levels was spread across multiple systems (eCHIS, KHIS, and KEMSA’s iLMIS) without integration, limiting visibility and making it difficult to plan or respond to shortages.
- Training and Supervision Gaps: Some CHPs had not received adequate training in inventory management or proper use of the commodities.
- Persistent Distribution Delays: Even when kits reached county stores, some CHPs waited months to receive them due to logistical bottlenecks at the last mile.
- Weak Coordination for Program-Specific Commodities: Beyond the basic kit, there was limited alignment in supplying vertical program commodities (e.g., for NCDs, nutrition, HIV, WASH, and RMNCAH), especially at the community level.
Convening a National Workshop to Strengthen Community Supply Chains
To turn these insights into action, MoH Kenya, VillageReach and partners convened more than 120 participants—including national and county health officials, KEMSA logisticians, CHPs and technologists—at the Community Commodity Management Workshop in Nairobi (April 14–15, 2025). Over two days, attendees:
- Mapped performance and funding challenges: pairing operational challenges (stockouts, manual records, transport gaps) with emerging budget constraints.
- Co designed a three-pronged strategy to integrate community workflows into existing systems, secure county financing and phase investments for quick wins and sustained scale-up.
- Committed to concrete next steps, from finalizing SOPs and lockable storage distribution to launching real-time dashboards and embedding community commodities in county e-procurement.
- Workshop participants reported immediate benefits: improved coordination between national and county teams, draft SOPs ready for roll out, and seven counties pledging dedicated budget lines for CHP kit replenishment in the FY 26/27 cycle.
Strategy to Improve Health Supply Chains amidst Funding Constraints
1. Integrate Community Supply Chains into Existing Systems
Rather than create new systems, Kenya is prioritizing the integration of community-level workflows into existing national platforms—such as the electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS), Kenya Health Information System (KHIS), and KEMSA’s Integrated Logistics Management Information System (iLMIS).
Key integration steps include:
- Completing commodity reporting modules in KHIS
- Developing summary dashboards that provide visibility across all levels
- Ensuring community data informs national supply planning
2. Mobilize and Sustain County Budgets
Because primary health care is devolved in Kenya, the long-term success of community supply chains hinges on county-level investments. Counties are being encouraged to:
- Establish and protect budget lines for community health commodities
- Include community supplies in their essential medicines lists
- Leverage national funding mechanisms such as the Primary Health Care (PHC) Fund and the Health Sector Fiscal Investment Framework
3. Phase Investments for Maximum Impact
To maximize learning and effectiveness, a staggered rollout approach is planned, beginning April 2025:
- Short-Term (1–9 months, starting April 2025):
- Distribute secure storage tools (e.g., lockable boxes) to Community Health Promoters (CHPs) for use in their homes, ensuring safe and organized storage of health commodities.
- Finalize and distribute standard operating procedures (SOPs) and job aids to guide day-to-day activities and ensure consistency in service delivery.
- Conduct refresher trainings for both CHPs and Community Health Assistants (CHAs)—with CHPs being the frontline health workers serving households and CHAs as their supervisors, providing technical support and oversight.
- Medium-Term Phase (8 to 24 months):
- Launch real-time dashboards to track the availability and use of community health supplies and support data-driven decision-making.
- Integrate community health commodities into county e-procurement systems to streamline ordering and supply chain efficiency.
- Ensure community-level supplies are prioritized in procurement planning by reclassifying key items as “Level 1” in national lists such as the Kenya Essential Medicines List (KEML 2023) and Kenya Essential Medical Supplies List (KEMSL 2024).
- Establish systems for pharmacovigilance—that is, monitoring and reporting any side effects or safety concerns related to medicines and health supplies used at the community level.
Why This Work Matters
Ensuring that every Community Health Promoter in Kenya has the tools they need to serve their communities—whether it’s a malaria test kit, a blood pressure monitor, or family planning commodities—is more than a supply chain issue. It’s about empowering frontline health workers to deliver timely, quality care, particularly to underserved populations.
Strengthening the community-level supply chain means addressing the full ecosystem:
- Procurement and policy alignment
- Reliable data for decision-making
- Capacity building and training
- Safe storage and timely distribution
- Effective oversight and coordination
Sustaining Momentum
Progress to date shows what is possible when national leadership, county ownership, and development partner support come together around a shared goal. But sustaining this momentum will require continued collaboration and investment from all sectors, including:
- County Governments: To prioritize community health commodities in their annual plans and budgets.
- National MoH Departments: To drive policy updates, financing frameworks, and system-wide alignment.
- Development Partners: To support scale-up, innovation, and transition to sustainable domestic financing.
- Civil Society and Academia: To advocate for political commitment, generate evidence, and track progress.
When we lift community health, we lift the health of the nation,” Dr. Kimani reminded us. By bridging the last mile in Kenya’s health supply chains, we’re not just moving kits—we’re delivering on the promise of equitable, quality care for all.
Learn more about VillageReach’s work on community health supply chains in Kenya: https://www.villagereach.org/project/sc4chws-kenya/
George Nzioka is a Senior Manager of Supply Chain, while Ronald Ngeno is a Communications Manager both at VillageReach. VillageReach is a global health organization that strengthens primary health care systems to be responsive for under-reached communities. For more information on our Supply Chain for Community Health Workers program in Kenya, please get in touch with George Nzioka at george.nzioka@villagereach.org
Leave a Reply