Mombasa County: To improve the safety and effectiveness of health products and technologies, LVCT Health joined Mombasa County in the launch of the Health Products and Technologies Unit (HPTU).

The unit will be responsible for the access and availability of health products and technologies at the county and enhance commodity security across the county’s health facilities.

The unit will be charged with coordinating all supply chain functions within the Department of Health for consistent, adequate, and transparent provision of affordable, acceptable, and quality health products and technologies in the county.

Speaking during the launch held at Mvita Health Centre, the County Executive Committee Member for Health, Dr. Swabah Ahmed Omar thanked LVCT Health through its USAID Stawisha Pwani project for the support in strengthening the county’s health and commodity management which has been a challenge for years.

The event was attended by key health stakeholders including Mombasa County Director of Medical Services Dr. Shem Patta, USAID Afya Ugavi representatives and Dr. Patrick Oyaro, the Chief of party USAID Stawisha Pwani. 

“As partners we are happy to be part of this launch and we shall continue supporting the county to offer quality health services in Mombasa,” said Dr. Patrick Oyaro.

The unit will host commodity security technical working group (TWG), medicine and therapeutics committee meetings for the optimization of health outcomes through the safe, rational, and appropriate use of health products and technologies through enforcement of standard operating procedures.

Recognizing the central role of strengthened and effective supply chain management, the CECM, said that the county government is committed to ensuring smooth delivery of services across the entire spectrum health service provision.

Later in the week, the project held a week-long meeting in collaborating with the Department of health services- Mombasa County and USAID Afya Ugavi in the development of the unit’s five-year operation plan. The plan will address the coordination of health products and technologies in the county and ensure availability of safe and effective health commodities across the county to improve the health outcomes of the communities.

The workshop was attended by the unit’s members and other health implementing partners. Director Clinical Services Dr. Mohamed Hanif officially opened the workshop and encouraged members to be aware of trends in the supply chain like the establishment of County warehouses.