Kenya has stepped up efforts to strengthen regulation of medicines and medical products, with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) calling for tighter controls across the entire supply chain to protect patients from substandard and falsified products.
PPB chairperson Dr John Munyu said Kenya had made significant progress in strengthening its regulatory framework, technical capacity, quality systems and processes to ensure medicines reaching patients are safe and properly assessed.
Munyu said patients should be able to trust medicines without questioning whether they were properly assessed, safely stored or entered the supply chain through legitimate channels.
He was speaking in Nairobi on Monday during the 6th PharmaReg & MedDevReg AfriSummit 2026.
“Building that trust is the work of a strong regulatory system. Kenya has made significant progress in that work,” he said.
Munyu said the country had in recent years focused on making regulatory decisions more consistent, predictable and risk-based, with its journey through the World Health Organisation Global Benchmarking Tool helping strengthen the overall system.
He said the reforms cover different stages of a medical product’s life cycle, including the renewal of marketing authorisations to ensure products remain subject to regulatory scrutiny after their initial approval.
The board has also strengthened inspections of manufacturers, wholesalers and other premises to ensure the quality of medicines is maintained after they leave manufacturing facilities.
Munyu said Kenya was further strengthening pharmacy practice standards while advancing authentication and traceability systems to enable regulators to track products through the supply chain and respond quickly when problems are detected.
The PPB is also making greater use of regulatory reliance, where assessments and inspection outcomes from trusted regulatory authorities are used as evidence to inform local decisions.
“Our task now is to keep improving, to deliver efficient and transparent services, support those who comply with clear standards, and act firmly against substandard and falsified medical products,” Munyu said.
He said effective regulation was particularly important because patients benefit when regulatory systems are both rigorous and dependable.
Munyu said the summit’s focus on regulatory maturity, regulatory reliance, local manufacturing, digital systems and supply chain security required cooperation between countries and institutions.
“The issues on this Summit’s agenda; from regulatory maturity and reliance to local manufacturing, digital systems and supply chain security; are connected; and none can be solved by one institution or one country working alone,” he said.
He urged delegates from across Africa and beyond to use the summit to share experiences, build partnerships and develop practical solutions to strengthen regulation of medicines and medical devices.
The six-day PharmaReg & MedDevReg AfriSummit brings together regulators and other stakeholders to discuss regulatory systems, medical products and measures to improve access to safe and quality-assured health products.