On Call Plus Test Strips: the Least Expensive Testing on Our Shelf
On Call Plus test strips help you afford to test as often as our doctor has actually asked you to, because at fifty tests to a pack they work out at roughly a third of what the dearest strips on our shelf cost per test. For anybody testing twice a day for the next ten years, that single figure matters more than any feature on any meter.
They fit the On Call Plus meter, which we also stock, so this is one of the two complete systems we can supply from one shelf. Please read the model name off the front of your own meter before you order, since every strip is made for one meter model and a strip from another machine is either rejected outright or returns a number with nothing behind it.
What Testing Actually Costs Over a Year
This is the arithmetic nobody is given, and it is the whole reason to read a strip price before choosing a meter. The machine is bought once. The strips are bought for as long as you have diabetes.
Testing twice a day uses about sixty strips a month, which is a little over one pack. On these strips the monthly cost of testing is roughly a third of what the dearest system on our shelf would cost you for exactly the same schedule, and across ten years of diabetes that difference buys a great deal. It is decided entirely by which meter somebody picked on the afternoon they were diagnosed. Ask our pharmacist to do the sum with you on today’s prices before you commit to a system, and we will do it honestly even where the answer is the cheaper box.
Why the Cheaper Strip Is the Clinical Answer Too
Testing less often than you were asked to is the commonest way home monitoring fails, and the reason is almost always cost rather than forgetfulness. People stretch a pack, skip the evening reading, and the pattern our doctor needs never appears.
So a strip you can afford to use is worth more than a strip with a better marketing story. If you have been quietly testing once a day because twice was too expensive, please tell our pharmacist rather than carrying on, because moving you to a cheaper system is usually possible and it is a better conversation than the one about why your readings are patchy.
Getting a Reading You Can Trust
Most unreliable home readings come from the technique rather than the strip, and four habits cover nearly all of it.
Wash your hands with soap and warm water and dry them properly, because sugar from fruit, juice or food on a finger reads far higher than your blood. Use a fresh lancet every time, and prick the side of the fingertip rather than the pad, moving round your fingers. Let the drop form on its own instead of squeezing or milking the finger, which pushes tissue fluid into the sample and reads lower than the truth. Then apply the blood to the strip and keep still until the meter beeps. Please never share a lancing device with anybody, even inside one household.
Keeping the Strips in Good Condition
Strips are the delicate part of the kit, and Nairobi damp and coastal humidity spoil them faster than most people expect.
Keep them in their own container with the lid shut tight, and shut it straight after taking one out. Room temperature, out of direct sun, out of the bathroom and out of a car. Not the fridge. Handle a strip by its end and keep your fingers off the application area. One strip per test, and check the expiry date before starting a new container. Ask our pharmacist whether your pot needs a code entered into the meter when you open it, because some systems do and some do not, and we will show you either way.
What to Do With the Numbers
Write every reading down with the date, the time and whether it was before or after food, or let the meter’s memory hold them and bring the meter in. One reading says very little. A fortnight of them shows a pattern, and the pattern is what our doctor treats.
Please bring the readings to us rather than adjusting your own insulin or tablets, because doses are changed on a pattern over weeks and a dose altered on one number causes harm in both directions. Our doctor will set your own target range with you as well, since the right targets differ between people and are different again in pregnancy, in older age and for somebody on insulin.
When to Act, and When to Get Help the Same Day
A reading below 4.0 mmol/L needs treating immediately. Take fifteen to twenty grams of fast-acting sugar, which is three or four glucose tablets, half a glass of ordinary soda or fruit juice, or three teaspoons of sugar in water. Wait fifteen minutes, test again, repeat if it is still low, then eat something more substantial so it holds.
Where somebody with low blood sugar is confused, fitting or hard to wake, treat it as an emergency and get help at once, and please put nothing in the mouth of a person who is unconscious. A very high reading alongside vomiting, stomach pain, deep rapid breathing, breath that smells sweet or of acetone, or unusual drowsiness needs hospital the same day rather than another test. Please also come and see us for lows that keep happening, lows you no longer feel coming, or readings that stay high for several days.
What We Can Honestly Tell You
On cost per test these are the strips we would put most people on, and the fact that we stock the matching meter means you are never left hunting for refills. Tell our pharmacist how often you test and we will set a standing monthly delivery in plain outer packaging with a delivery note that names nothing.
The machine these belong with is the On Call Plus glucometer, and please ask about lancets at the same time, since a strip is only half a test. If you already own an Accu-Chek, your refills are either the Instant strips or the Active strips depending on the model, and we will identify the meter for you if you bring it in.
Is This Pack of Test Strips Right for You?
Please talk to our pharmacist or our doctor before you buy if any of these apply.
- You are unsure which meter you have. Read the model name off the front, or bring it in. Strips fit one meter model only.
- You have been testing less often than you were asked to because of cost. Please tell us. Moving you to a cheaper system is usually possible.
- You are choosing a meter for the first time. Ask us to work out the cost per test and the yearly figure for each system before you commit.
- A reading below 4.0 mmol/L. Treat it at once with fast-acting sugar, retest in fifteen minutes, and tell us if it keeps happening.
- Someone with low blood sugar who is confused, fitting or hard to wake. Emergency, and nothing by mouth.
- A very high reading with vomiting, stomach pain, deep rapid breathing, sweet-smelling breath or drowsiness. Hospital the same day.
Where to Buy On Call Plus test strips in Kenya
Order online and we deliver countrywide, or collect from our pharmacy at Kahawa Sukari Shopping Center, Nairobi. We send orders to Nairobi and every neighbourhood around it — the CBD, Westlands, Parklands, Gigiri, Muthaiga, Runda, Rosslyn, Kitisuru, Lower Kabete, Lavington, Kileleshwa, Kilimani, Karen, Langata, South B, South C, Eastleigh, Buruburu, Donholm, Embakasi, Ngong Road, Kasarani, Roysambu, Zimmerman, Githurai, Ruaka, Banana Hill, Two Rivers, Village Market and Pride Lands — and across Kiambu, Thika, Juja, Ruiru, Kikuyu, Limuru and Ngong.
Beyond the capital we deliver to Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyeri, Machakos, Athi River, Kitengela, Kajiado, Naivasha, Narok, Kericho, Bomet, Kisii, Migori, Homa Bay, Siaya, Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Vihiga, Webuye, Kitale, Nandi Hills, Iten, Kapenguria, Embu, Meru, Chuka, Kerugoya, Murang’a, Othaya, Nyahururu, Nanyuki, Maralal, Isiolo, Marsabit, Moyale, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa, Lodwar, Kitui, Mwingi, Makueni, Emali, Kibwezi, Voi, Taveta, Wundanyi, Mariakani, Diani, Ukunda, Kilifi, Watamu, Malindi, Lamu and Hola. Everything in this category travels in plain outer packaging with nothing on the outside to say what is inside, and the delivery note carries our name and no product description. At one strip per test a pack covers a known length of time, so tell us how many months you want covered and we will work out the quantity with you before you order.
Across Africa, ask us before you order. We have sent orders to Uganda, Tanzania, Somaliland and as far as Malawi, and we will quote for Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and the rest of the continent. Tell us the destination and we will confirm any import paperwork before the parcel leaves us.
Living abroad? Order from wherever you are and we deliver to your family here in Kenya. Kenyans in the UK, the United States, Canada, South Africa and the Gulf order from us regularly for parents and relatives at home. Blood glucose test strips is needed every day rather than occasionally, so running out is the thing to plan against. Tell us who it is for, the size and how many months you want covered, and we will set up a standing monthly delivery so nobody is ever caught short.
Why Buy Your On Call Plus test strips from HealthAlone Kenya?
HealthAlone is a pharmacist-led health ecosystem licensed by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, and our stock is original, sealed and correctly stored. Kahawa Sukari is a real counter with real pharmacists behind it.
Our pharmacists will work out what each system on our shelf costs you per test and per year, match the strips to your own meter, and add lancets, which are half of every test. Our doctor is here too if you would rather have the whole question looked at properly.
It is one more step in our vision: building Africa’s most trusted health ecosystem, accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Your Questions About On Call Plus Test Strips, Answered
Which meter do these fit?
The On Call Plus meter, which we also stock. Read the model name off the front of your own meter before ordering, or bring it in.
How do these compare on cost per test?
At fifty to a pack they work out at roughly a third of the dearest strips on our shelf. Ask our pharmacist for today’s figures on each system.
What does that mean over a year?
Testing twice a day uses about sixty strips a month. Over a year the gap between the cheapest and dearest systems we stock is substantial, and our pharmacist will work out both figures with you.
How long does a pack of fifty last?
About three and a half weeks at twice a day, or nearer a fortnight at four times a day.
Do they need a code entered into the meter?
Ask our pharmacist when you collect them. Some systems need a code on opening a new pot and some do not, and we will show you either way.
Why must my hands be washed first?
Sugar from fruit, juice or food on a finger reads far higher than your blood. Soap and warm water, dried properly.
Should I squeeze my finger for more blood?
Let the drop form on its own. Squeezing pushes tissue fluid in and gives a reading lower than the truth.
Where should I prick?
The side of the fingertip rather than the pad, moving round your fingers rather than using one spot.
Can a strip or lancet be used twice?
One of each per test. And please never share a lancing device with anybody, even in the same house.
How should they be stored?
Lid shut tight and shut immediately, at room temperature, out of sun and damp. Not in the fridge and not in a car.
I have been testing once a day instead of twice because of the cost. What should I do?
Please tell our pharmacist. Moving you to a cheaper system is usually possible, and it is a better conversation than the one about patchy readings.
What do I do about a reading below 4.0 mmol/L?
Treat it at once with fifteen to twenty grams of fast-acting sugar, wait fifteen minutes and retest. Repeat if still low, then eat something more substantial.
When is a high reading an emergency?
With vomiting, stomach pain, deep rapid breathing, sweet-smelling breath or drowsiness. Hospital the same day rather than another test.
Where can I buy On Call Plus Blood Glucose Test Strips 50s in Kenya, and what does it cost?
From HealthAlone, online for delivery countrywide or over the counter at Kahawa Sukari Shopping Center, Nairobi. The current price is shown above. We deliver across Nairobi — the CBD, Westlands, Parklands, Gigiri, Muthaiga, Runda, Kitisuru, Lavington, Kilimani, Karen, Langata, South B, South C, Eastleigh, Kasarani, Roysambu, Githurai, Ruaka and Banana Hill — and to Kiambu, Thika, Juja, Ruiru, Kikuyu, Limuru, Ngong, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyeri, Machakos, Kitengela, Naivasha, Narok, Kericho, Kisii, Migori, Homa Bay, Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Kitale, Embu, Meru, Nanyuki, Nyahururu, Isiolo, Marsabit, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa, Lodwar, Kitui, Makueni, Voi, Taveta, Mariakani, Diani, Ukunda, Kilifi, Watamu, Malindi and Lamu. Outside Kenya we have delivered to Uganda, Tanzania, Somaliland and Malawi, and we quote for Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and the rest of Africa on request. Tell us the model name on the front of your meter and how often you test, and we will set the monthly quantity.
