Gov’t Moves to Curb Theft of Medicines from Public Hospitals and Sale of Counterfeit Drugs

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) is set to launch a national drug traceability system from 3 August 2026.

This will help to ensure the movement of health products along the whole supply chain is tightly controlled, to prevent the distribution of fake medicines.

PPB, together with the Digital Health Agency (DHA), has announced that the National Authentication and Traceability System will run through a transition period which will end on 31st December 2026, to pave the way for mandatory compliance from 1st January 2027.

As disclosed in the regulatory notice issued by the Board, the system is based on Section 17(h) of the Digital Health Act, 2023, which provides for the establishment of a Comprehensive Integrated Health Information System for the authentication, monitoring &traceability of Health Products and Technologies HPTs.

“Once the System is successfully implemented (go-live) on 3rd August 2026, a transition period shall be applied until 31 st December 2026. During this transition period, Authentication and Traceability shall be done for the locally manufactured and imported HPTs through Batch-Level Traceability.” The notice stated.

The Board stated the systems will be completed, and data will be provided to the DHA from manufacturers, importers, Marketing Authorization Holders, and Local Technical Representatives before the implementation deadline.

In addition, it urged the wholesalers, distributors, retail pharmacies, and other downstream actors in the supply chain to register on the platform in accordance with the deployment schedule and provided new technical guidance to the DHA.

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PPB Mandates Onboarding to Practice 360 and Facility 360 by October 31, 2026, for the 2027 licensing Cycle

The PPB also made it mandatory for all pharmaceutical premises, pharmacists, and Pharmaceutical Technologists to onboard at Practice 360 and Facility 360 by 31st October 2026.

As stated by the Board, “Processing of applications during the 2027 Annual Licensing Cycle shall be conditioned on the completion of onboarding.

The Board said the reforms are to improve oversight and traceability of medicines and focus on strengthening Kenya’s integrated digital health ecosystem.

“The Board is committed to the protection and safeguarding of public health and will continue to provide the technical support to enable continued regulatory compliance,” said CEO Dr. Ahmed I. Mohamed.

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The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) is set to launch a national drug traceability system from 3 August 2026. Credits PCS