By Mitchell Anne Adhiambo, Nairobi
Ministry of Health has revealed that expired medicines worth Ksh90.5 billion are currently stockpiled in public hospitals and Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) warehouses across the country.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale described the situation as an “unacceptable emergency,” noting that the expired stock, some of it dating back several years, underscores chronic failures in the country’s public health supply chain.
“Kenya’s medicine expiry rate stands at 32 percent, far above the global average of 3–5 percent. That is not just a waste of resources—it is a betrayal of public trust,” said Duale
The government is now seeking Ksh600 million to dispose of the expired medicines, a request that has ignited a storm of public criticism and calls for sweeping accountability.
Speaking at the 45th Annual Scientific Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya in Mombasa, CS Duale said the country’s medicine expiry rate stands at 32percent, significantly above the global average of 3–5 percent.
“Kenya’s medicine expiry rate stands at 32 percent, far above the global average of 3–5 percent. That is not just a waste of resources—it is a betrayal of public trust,” said Duale
He warned that nearly a third of all drugs procured for public use expire before they are even distributed, calling it both a massive financial waste and a betrayal of public trust.
He noted that the value of expired stock could have covered the entire annual health budgets of several counties, built hundreds of new hospitals, or paid thousands of frontline health workers.
Health officials attributed the crisis to a combination of poor forecasting, inefficient procurement, and bureaucratic inertia.
CS Duale explained that drugs were often procured in bulk without proper assessment of demand at the facility level, leading to overstocking in some regions while others faced critical shortages.
Routine inspections of over 300 public health facilities and KEMSA warehouses revealed large volumes of expired drugs that had been left unused well past their disposal window. Officials said financial constraints, convoluted supply chains, and lack of clear disposal guidelines contributed to the crisis.
County governments were not spared in the exposé. Health officers in Trans Nzoia admitted that a majority of the expired stock originated from poorly coordinated donations.
In Kilifi, expired medical supplies from national health programmes targeting HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis have been left to accumulate due to changing treatment protocols and outdated stock rotation practices.
While the government’s request for Ksh 600 million to safely dispose of the expired drugs has provoked widespread criticism but health authorities insist the funds are necessary to mitigate environmental and public health risks.
Officials warned that unsafe disposal could lead to the contamination of water sources, soil degradation, and the diversion of expired drugs into the black market. The Ministry of Health has stated that the funds would be used for incineration, transport logistics, and environmental compliance.
Several counties, including Kilifi, have already begun constructing medical waste incinerators, although most are still awaiting power connections and environmental clearance. The Ministry has said that the disposal programme will be centrally regulated to ensure uniform standards and prevent further delays.
To prevent a repeat of the crisis, the Ministry of Health has announced a raft of reforms, including the rollout of a digital tracking system to trace pharmaceuticals from the point of delivery at KEMSA to the final point of prescription in public hospitals.
CS Duale said the government would also decentralise drug distribution to give counties more control over inventories, improve forecasting tools, train health workers in inventory management, and introduce penalties for negligence in medical supply chains.
