More than 11,000 pharmaceutical technologists have threatened to take to the streets over new practice standards they say could limit the work they are allowed to do in health facilities.
The disagreement is over the 2026 Good Pharmacy Practice Standards adopted by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB).
The Kenya Pharmaceutical Association (KPA) says the new standards could leave diploma-level pharmaceutical technologists working mainly in dispensaries, while degree holders would be allowed to administer medicines in Level Three to Level Six health facilities.
KPA Chairman Chitechi Amboka has described the guidelines as discriminatory, saying they could take away duties that diploma-level technologists have been performing in the health system.
Amboka said pharmaceutical technologists account for more than 70 per cent of healthcare practitioners and are involved in the daily running of health facilities.
“The new guidelines that have been adopted by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board will prevent over 11,000 of our members from managing drugs in the 3,569 public health facilities, limiting the task to degree holders alone,” Amboka stated.
The organization claims that it has brought up this issue with the Ministry of Health and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, but it has not received a satisfactory answer.
It is now planning to conduct a demonstration on Thursday as it calls for the suspension of the new guidelines.
He further added that the members could shut down their facilities if the government fails to meet their demands. He explained that the new guidelines could affect the provision of health services and the realization of Universal Health Coverage by the government.
The Kenya National Union of Pharmaceutical Technologists has also rejected the guidelines.
Its chairman, Kenneth Omogi, announced plans for street demonstrations, saying the new guidelines were not in line with existing laws governing the profession.
The technologists maintain that diploma-level practitioners have received the required training and are approved and licensed by the relevant authorities. They argue that they should therefore be allowed to carry out pharmacy-related duties at different levels of the health system.
Duale Rejects Interpretation of New Rules
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, however, has disputed the interpretation being given to the new standards.
Duale said the guidelines do not prevent diploma holders or any other category of pharmacy professionals from working in Kenya.
“The Standards do not bar any category of pharmacy professionals, whether diploma or degree holders, from practising or working at any level of the health system,” Duale stated on Thursday, September 3.
He said pharmacy professionals would continue working at different levels of the health system as long as they are properly licensed and operate within their scope of practice.
According to Duale, the standards were developed after five years of consultations and are meant to strengthen professional practice and improve patient safety.
The new standards are expected to take effect in January 2027, setting the stage for further discussions between the government and pharmaceutical technologists before implementation.
