Walk into many public hospitals across Kenya today and you will hear a phrase that has become painfully routine: “Dawa hakuna”. While this reality has long been part of public discourse, recent data now confirms what patients and healthcare workers have been experiencing for years. Kenya’s drug shortage crisis is not anecdotal; it is systemic, widespread and worsening.

As a health officer, I have seen the human face behind these statistics. Patients diagnosed with treatable conditions leave hospitals without medication, forced to either purchase drugs from private pharmacies or abandon treatment altogether. The consequences are devastating, not just medically, but socially and economically.
Read Also
Red hot Omanyala to orchestrate Kenya's 4x100m charge at World Relays today Athletics
Cup pressure peaks as Shabana host Kenya Police in blockbuster quarter-final Football
Upper Hill coach Walgwe unperturbed despite drawing giants in Prescott Cup group phase Rugby

Recent findings paint a stark picture. A 2025 survey by the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council revealed that nearly two-thirds of Kenyans were forced to pay out of pocket for essential medicines due to shortages in public facilities. Even more alarming, the average monthly cost of medicines surged significantly, with some patients selling personal assets just to afford treatment.
Enjoying this article? Subscribe for unlimited access to premium sports coverage.
View Plans

This shift undermines the very foundation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which aims to ensure that all citizens access needed healthcare without financial hardship. When medicines are unavailable in public hospitals, healthcare effectively becomes privatised by default, accessible only to those who can pay.

At the facility level, the problem is equally concerning. A 2025 study at Kitui County Referral Hospital found that supply chain inefficiencies resulted in barely half of drug orders being fulfilled, leading to frequent stock-outs of essential commodities. Limited training in inventory management among healthcare staff further exposes critical gaps in system capacity.

These are not isolated findings. National data shows recurring shortages of life-saving drugs, including maternal health medicines. In a country where preventable conditions still claim lives, such gaps are not just logistical failures; they are life-threatening.

The causes of these shortages are multifaceted. Procurement delays, inadequate funding, weak forecasting systems and poor coordination between national and county governments all play a role. Devolution, while necessary, has exposed disparities in capacity and prioritisation across counties.

Additionally, systemic inefficiencies are compounded by broader financial challenges within the health sector. Kenya still relies heavily on imports, with limited local production of essential medicines, making the country vulnerable to global supply disruptions.

But beyond systems and statistics lies the human cost. Drug shortages disrupt treatment for chronic conditions such as HIV, tuberculosis, hypertension and diabetes. Patients ration medication, skip doses or delay care, actions that lead to complications, hospitalisations and preventable deaths. Healthcare workers, too, are left demoralised, caught between professional duty and systemic failure.

To tackle this challenge, the government must prioritise the health sector by increasing and protecting budgetary allocation. Adequate funding would ensure timely procurement of essential medicines and reduce dependence on emergency supplies. At the same time, Kenya must strengthen its supply chain systems through digital inventory tracking, real-time data and improved forecasting to minimise stock-outs.

The country must also invest in local pharmaceutical manufacturing to reduce reliance on imports and build resilience against global disruptions.

Equally important is the need for uncompromising accountability, particularly for institutions like the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa). The country has witnessed procurement scandals and mismanagement within such bodies before. It is unacceptable for the same failures to persist without consequence.
Public health cannot be held hostage by corruption, negligence or opaque dealings. Those entrusted with managing essential medical supplies must be held to the highest standards, and when they fail, there must be swift and decisive action, no excuses and no cover-ups.

Finally, policymakers must listen to frontline healthcare workers. Those within the system understand where it breaks and how it can be fixed.

Kenya has made commendable progress toward expanding healthcare access, but access without medicines is an illusion. A hospital without drugs is not a place of healing; it is merely a structure.

Every time a patient leaves empty-handed, we are reminded that this is not just a policy issue. It is a moral one. And until it is fixed, the phrase “dawa hakuna” will remain a national indictment of a system that must and can do better.

Orthopaedic and trauma officer | [email protected]