The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) has rolled out the use of Electronic Proof of Deliveries (e-POD) application that will help to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of family planning commodities and other essential medical supplies across the country.
The application is GPS enabled to ensure commodities are delivered to the correct health facilities and has receipt and acknowledgment modules for the facility to accept receipt of commodities delivered in their right quantities.
The application comes at a time when the Authority is facing operational challenges as a result of deeply-rooted systemic issues that particularly affect its integrity on procurement, warehousing, and distribution. The application also monitors order turnaround time which helps to avert delays in delivery which can cause stock-out of essential health commodities at the facility level.
“The application will help us to ensure commodities are delivered in the correct health facilities, in the right quantities, and at the right time. This will, in turn, help us to facilitate timely payments to our suppliers, transporters, and timely billing to development partners supporting FP programs,” said Acting KEMSA CEO Edward Njoroge.
The e-POD application is among two innovations developed with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) aimed at improving the supply chain for more efficient delivery of family planning commodities.
“Provision of Family planning commodities contributes to eliminating unintended pregnancies which eventually leads to reduction of maternal and newborn mortality as well as improving the health and well-being of women and children,” said UNFPA Representative Dr. Ademola Olajide.
KEMSA, which supplies drugs to more than 8,000 health facilities across the country through a last-mile delivery service, is hoping for the success of the application especially for the citizens who rely on public health facilities to access lifesaving health commodities including family planning.
The app is loaded onto tablets distributed to commodity managers including pharmacists and commodity managers at public health facilities, who use it to electronically take stock of commodities consumed during the period as well as place new orders.
