Lodwar – June 18, 2026 (Public Communication and Media Relations)
The County Government, through the Department of Health and Sanitation Services, held a Commodity Security Technical Working Group (CSTWG) meeting to review the status of health commodities in Turkana. The forum also assessed supply chain performance, identified challenges affecting commodity security, and developed strategies to improve commodity availability and management.
Led by the Directorate for Health Products and Technologies and supported by VillageReach, the forum brought together programme officers, sub-county pharmacists, health facility managers, implementing partners, and other stakeholders.
The meeting aimed to review the county-wide status of health products and technologies, identify and develop measures to mitigate stock-outs, discuss drug safety monitoring and commodity quality across all facilities, and share best practices and lessons learned towards improving their availability and accessibility.
These efforts follow a commodity management training supported by VillageReach, where a comprehensive report analysis of sub-county facilities was shared.
Representatives from all sub-counties, county health programme leads, and implementing partners including the Amref Health Africa presented their experiences, challenges, and proposed solutions.
According to County Pharmacist Dr. Brian Muyokani, the highlights of the two-day deliberations included commodity availability, stock management practices, reporting performance, redistribution mechanisms, forecasting, inventory management, and capacity gaps among healthcare workers.
“The meeting recognised notable progress in reporting compliance, commodity monitoring, and inter-facility redistribution efforts,” said Dr. Muyokani.
Despite this progress, stakeholders were reminded that challenges such as delayed reporting, stock imbalances, and human resource limitations continue to affect efficient supply chain management.
Stakeholders are also adopting consumption-based forecasting and First-to-Expire, First-Out (FEFO) inventory management practices.
The stakeholders agreed that these efforts address systemic challenges, including shortages and limited capacity, that have affected previous outbreak responses.
During the 2025/2026 financial cycle, the Departments of Medical Engineering and Community Health Services are working to resolve critical infrastructure and management gaps across county health facilities.
