Better Healthcare and Kenyan Innovation

How innovative private-sector approaches are reaching poor people

New York/Nairobi 4 December 2014 - Developing business models that lead to both commercial success and development impact is the fundamental aim of the Business Call to Action (BCtA), a growing initiative supported by UNDP and other government partners that assists companies in sharing expertise, knowledge and best practices for market-based approaches to development.

At a recent meeting co-hosted by the BCtA and the Private Sector Innovation Programme for Health (PSP4H), a research project funded by the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID), these entities came together to explore new approaches to development assistance in healthcare. The forum focused on delivering better healthcare to low-income Kenyans and building a more inclusive ecosystem in health, integrating the pharmaceutical supply chain as part of an enhanced delivery system.

The programme explored the work that Phillips Healthcare Services Ltd. has undertaken in collaboration with USAID to provide promising interventions for children in the region. The Kenyan Government has recently embarked on the design of an inclusive business ecosystem where government, local pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors play an active role in healthcare delivery. Phillips Healthcare is expanding its pilot nutritional supplement program in order to reach more than 150,000 young children with micronutrient powder by 2018. This project targets healthcare workers by providing training on home fortification and young child feeding practices.

Enhanced business-based approaches to health and emerging partnerships between business and public-sector stakeholders are also being developed to improve access to healthcare in Kenya and adapt the country to new markets. Since pharmacies are often low-income Kenyans first point of contact with the healthcare system, private retail drug outlets are an important aspect of national healthcare delivery. To address challenges facing low-income consumers such as irrational prescribing practices and substandard medicines, the Kenya Pharmaceutical Association (KPA), a group of government-licensed pharmaceutical technologists, developed the Pharmnet retail network.

This network of retail pharmacies owned or operated by KPA members delivers medicines under the common Pharmnet brand with a promise of quality assurance. Pharmaceutical technologists operate almost two thirds of all retail pharmacies in Kenya, or nearly 3,000 pharmacies. Most of them are located in the informal settlements and rural areas where the vast majority of low-income Kenyans reside.

Through group purchasing, Pharmnet operators access quality-assured essential medicines from prequalified suppliers. At neighborhood pharmacies, the Pharmnet brand signals to consumers that they can obtain genuine, high-quality products. By ensuring that quality medicines are dispensed by qualified pharmaceutical specialists, Pharmnet outlets greatly improve access to quality healthcare among Kenya's working poor.

The meeting today represented the beginning of how a sector wide approach can be undertaken to facilitate inclusive business in health in Kenya. Through this we hope to identify gaps in the ecosystem and what we can do as a community to meet the needs of stakeholders in the region, stated Suba Sivakumaran, BCtA Programme Manager.

By working within the BCtA platform, innovative companies like Phillips Healthcare can also generate economic opportunities within supply and distribution channels and spur economic development in their regions. To strengthen the budding ecosystem in Kenya, pilot programmes such as Pharmnet are expanding, with a target of reaching over 1,000 branded outlets nationwide and operating in all of Kenya's 47 counties.

Pharmnet harnesses the power of the private sector to deliver better quality and affordable medicines to Kenyans of all income levels. The business model leverages existing networks and features market sustainability at its core, making it a great market engagement to improve standards in Kenya's pharmaceutical retail sector, said Ron Ashkin, Team leader, PSP4H.

For more information about the growing number of companies working in Kenya and to learn more about Phillips Healthcare Services Ltd., see www.businesscalltoaction.org.

For more information about: Business Call to Action (BCtA) contact Karen Newman, Karen.Newman@undp.org +1 212 906-5194;

Pharmnet, contact Jesse Kirowo at +254 (0)722 771108 or email elo@kpanairobi.com