Photo Caption: Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale (second left) With him are MDCL Board Chairman Rt. Rev. Benard Owuor (left), MEDS CEO and MDCL Acting General Manager Dr. Wycliffe Nandama (second right), and MEDS Board Chairman Rt. Rev. Cleophas Oseso (far right) unveils the corporate identity of MEDS Devane Company Limited (MDCL) during the MEDS 40th Anniversary Celebration in Nairobi on Sept. 29, 2026.
NAIROBI, Kenya, September 29, 2026 — Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has launched MEDS Devane Company Limited (MDCL), a new commercial arm of the Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS), to expand access to quality-assured health products in Kenya’s private healthcare sector.
MDCL will begin operations on Nov. 1, 2026, serving private hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, laboratories, corporates and distributors with medicines, medical consumables, diagnostics, laboratory products, infection prevention and control solutions, orthopaedic implants, equipment and other specialised health products.
Speaking during the MEDS 40th Anniversary Celebration in Nairobi, Duale commended MEDS for its contribution to quality assurance and efforts to combat substandard and falsified health products.
“I want in particular to recognize MEDS for a contribution that may be less visible than the delivery of supplies, but is just as important: its commitment to quality assurance,” said Duale.
He noted that MEDS has worked with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on laboratory testing and post-market surveillance, while maintaining World Health Organization prequalification since 2009, ISO 9001:2015 certification and ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.
Duale said faith-based health facilities remain important partners in the Government’s universal health coverage agenda, noting that 876 such facilities have active contracts with the Social Health Authority.
“Universal health coverage is realised at the point of care. It depends on a facility being open, a health worker being available, a patient being able to afford treatment, and quality-assured medicine being there when it is needed,” he said.
He urged MEDS to maintain its founding values while investing in capabilities needed to meet the country’s changing healthcare demands.
“As you enter your fifth decade, I encourage you to preserve the values on which you were founded while investing in the capabilities the future will demand,” said Duale.
MDCL Board Chairman Rt. Rev. Benard Owuor said the new company was established to respond to the changing needs of private healthcare providers while extending MEDS’ commitment to quality and service.
“As Kenya’s healthcare landscape continues to evolve, the private healthcare sector, pharmacies and other healthcare institutions require a commercially responsive partner that understands the urgency, complexity and responsibility of healthcare delivery,” said Rev. Owuor.
He said MDCL would initially focus on the Kenyan market before expanding into selected markets across East Africa.
“Our ambition is not only to grow a successful company, but to grow a trusted company. We believe that commercial success and positive health impact can, and should, go together,” he said.
MEDS Chief Executive Officer Dr. Wycliffe Nandama, who is also MDCL Acting General Manager, said the company would provide private healthcare providers with reliable supply, quality assurance, timely delivery and professional support.
“Today’s healthcare customers need more than products on a shelf. They need quality assurance, dependable availability, timely delivery, professional support and a partner who understands that every product supplied can have a direct impact on patient care,” said Dr. Nandama.
He said efficient supply chains were essential to ensuring quality health products reach patients safely and reliably.
“The strength of healthcare depends not only on the medicine itself, but also on the strength of the supply chain that carries it from innovation to the patient,” he said.
MDCL is named after Rev. Sr. Joan Devane, an American medical missionary and pharmacist who founded MEDS in 1986 in a small warehouse in Ruaraka, Nairobi, stocking only 30 products.
Over four decades, MEDS has grown to stock more than 2,000 health products and technologies, serving healthcare facilities across all 47 counties and reaching more than 10,000 clients.
Its WHO-prequalified Quality Control Laboratory has supported quality assurance in more than 46 countries and analysed approximately 2,350 samples in 2025.
Its Health Systems Strengthening programmes also reach more than 20,000 healthcare workers annually.
The anniversary celebration, held under the theme “Celebrating 40 Years of Life-Saving Health Solutions – Legacy. Impact. Posterity,” also featured the launch of the MEDS-Strathmore Supply Chain Academy.
The ceremony brought together representatives of MEDS’ founding institutions, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) and the Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK), alongside government officials, partners, suppliers and staff.
Murang’a Governor Dr. Irungu Kang’ata and MEDS Board of Trustees and Directors Chairman Rt. Rev. Cleophas Oseso also addressed the gathering.
