Post4Health Project Launched to Strengthen Delivery of Essential Health Products to Underserved Communities

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), in partnership with the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK), has launched the Post4Health project to strengthen the delivery of temperature-sensitive medical products to health facilities, particularly in unserved and underserved communities.

The project has delivered six (6) refrigerated trucks to expand PCK’s cold-chain capacity. It originated in a UPU decision, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, to help postal operators carry health products, and the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) has worked with the CA and PCK on it since last year.

Speaking at the launch, the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, Hon. William Kabogo, said many medicines and vaccines, including most childhood vaccines and insulin, lose their effect unless kept within a narrow temperature range from warehouse to health facility. In remote areas, the cold chain most often breaks on the final stretch of road, leaving dispensaries with supplies that are no longer safe to use. The six vehicles, operated by PCK, whose network reaches every county, have been built to close that gap.

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

He said the larger opportunity lies beyond the six vehicles. With a postal presence in every county, Kenya need not build a separate delivery network for each public service. The postal network, KEMSA and county health systems can instead operate as a single distribution chain, sharing data, storage and transport, with digital tracking of temperature and location assuring facilities that what they receive is safe. He urged the Ministry of Health, KEMSA and county governments to join this effort, which he linked to the right to health under Article 43 of the Constitution and the Government’s Universal Health Coverage agenda.

“In the months ahead, a nurse at a dispensary far from Nairobi should be able to order vaccines and receive them in good condition, carried by a Posta vehicle. We will judge this project by that outcome,” he said.

The Cabinet Secretary noted that, under the Government Owned Enterprises Act, 2025, PCK now operates as a commercial enterprise that must finance itself from parcels, logistics, payments and other paid services, with health logistics a natural fit. Its public responsibilities, including Kenya’s UPU commitment to an affordable basic postal service across the country, will be brought back under the Ministry so that they are planned, funded and overseen as public services. The proposal will go to Cabinet in consultation with the National Treasury.

The Principal Secretary for Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Mr Stephen Isaboke, said the Ministry is advancing the National Addressing System Policy and Bill alongside reviews of the Kenya Information and Communications Act and the Kenya Information and Communications (Postal and Courier Services) Regulations, 2026. The reforms aim to modernise licensing, strengthen postal security and consumer protection, and clarify universal service obligations.

CA Board Chairperson Mr Charles Karondo said the Authority’s Strategic Plan 2023–2027 prioritises modernising postal and courier services, operationalising the National Addressing System and adopting tracking and security technologies.

Universal Service Advisory Council (USAC) Chairperson Hon. James Ongwae said the project advances the Universal Service Fund (USF) Strategy 2023–2027, which earmarks KSh 3.1 billion to strengthen the public postal operator and aims to cut the average distance to the nearest postal outlet from about 30 to 22 kilometres and extend postal access to 99 per cent of the population. He stressed that such interventions must be judged by their tangible impact on communities.

CA Director General Mr David Mugonyi said the project reflects the Authority’s use of the USF to close service gaps in unserved and underserved areas. The UPU contributed KSh 22 million while the Government of Kenya through the USF providing KSh 42.9 million to complete the fleet, a joint financing model the Cabinet Secretary said the Government would like to use more often.

Mr Mugonyi added that the Authority has installed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) monitoring equipment in 10 more post offices, bringing the total to 30, and is modernising 17 post offices in underserved counties with Local Area Network (LAN) infrastructure.