NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 2 – The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has launched a project to improve the delivery of vaccines and other temperature-sensitive medical supplies to health facilities in remote and underserved areas.

The Post4Health project, launched in partnership with the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK), has provided six refrigerated trucks to support the transportation of medical supplies while maintaining required temperatures.

The trucks will be operated by PCK, whose postal network covers all 47 counties. The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) has also been involved in the project since last year.

Information, Communications and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo said vaccines, insulin and other medicines can lose their effectiveness if they are not kept within the required temperature range during transportation.

He said the cold chain often breaks during the final stage of delivery to remote health facilities, putting the safety of medical supplies at risk.

“Government welcomes the Post4Health project because it puts a national network we already own to work for the health of Kenyans,” Kabogo said.

He said the postal network could work with KEMSA and county health systems to transport medical supplies, share information and track the temperature and location of deliveries.

The project was funded through a Sh22 million contribution from the UPU and Sh42.9 million from the Universal Service Fund (USF).

CA Director General David Mugonyi said the project was part of efforts to use the USF to improve access to services in areas that are poorly served.

USF Advisory Council Chairperson James Ongwae said the fund’s 2023–2027 strategy has allocated KSh3.1 billion to strengthen the public postal operator. The strategy also targets reducing the average distance to the nearest post office from about 30 kilometres to 22 kilometres and extending postal access to 99 per cent of the population.

Meanwhile, the CA said it had installed Radio Frequency Identification monitoring equipment in 10 additional post offices, bringing the total to 30. It is also upgrading 17 post offices in underserved counties with local area network infrastructure.