Revital Manufacturing Facility in Kilifi County launched

Kilifi, Kenya - 7th May 2024 - The Government has stepped up its bid to support the pharmaceutical sector by strengthening its local manufacturing capacity following the official inauguration of Revital Healthcare EPZ Ltd in Kilifi County on Tuesday.  

Presiding over the exercise that brought together various health stakeholders both locally and beyond, Health Cabinet Secretary Nakhumicha S. Wafula emphasised need for a responsive supply chain which is critical in ensuring availability and access to health products and technologies (HPT). 

 "HPTs are critical to the realization of Universal Health Coverage. Our mission, as a Ministry, is to secure HPTs through reduced costs, promoting local manufacturing and refining our public health procurement processes to foster efficiency" she said.

She said the program is in line with President William Ruto’s agenda of increasing local manufacturing which seeks to form a key pillar towards realisation of Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

 She noted that her Ministry is putting in place all tangible mechanisms aimed at curbing over-reliance on imported Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs),in a bid to safeguard the integrity of the local manufacturing reforms that require collaboration of all players in the public, private and civil society sectors. 

 Already, MoH through the Pharmacy and Poisons Board and other relevant agencies, has prioritised continuous capacity building for local manufacturing, and ensuring global competitiveness in the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines and other products, devices and technologies. 

 The Principal Secretary for the State Department of Industry Dr Juma Mukhwana speaking on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry Rebecca Miano said Kenya has immense opportunity for investment in the pharmaceutical sector. 

 He disclosed that the Government will take measures to make Kenya the region’s pharmaceutical manufacturing hub and further called upon local manufacturers to capitalise on the conducive environment President Ruto is vouching for through partnerships with other African countries and oversees. 

 Revital became the first East and Central African company to manufacture medical devices such as Auto-Disabled syringes and reuse-preventing syringes that support neonates and infants with breathing problems without the need for electricity. 

 According to the World Health Organization, respiratory distress is a leading cause of global child mortality, with nearly 1.1 million neonates dying annually because of preterm birth complications. 

 Also present during the function were the United States Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman,host and Kilifi County Governor Gideon Mung’aro among others.