Drug shortage now at 65%
- CMST says 90% stock level is ideal
The Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) has reduced the shortage of drugs and supplies in its warehouses from the record high of 95 percent two years ago to 35 percent by December 2014.
This is because CMST only had one major tender for drugs in 2014 which reduced stock-out levels from 80 percent to the present 65 percent. There were also donor-funded drugs through the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID), which provided K7.4 billion worth of essential drugs such as ibuprofen, the antibiotic cotrimoxazole, insulin, rabies vaccine and the antihistamine chlopherniramine for 18 months.
CMST director of pharmaceutical operations Dr Moses Chisale disclosed these details in an exclusive interview on Tuesday at the Trust’s Kanengo warehouse in Lilongwe.
But Chisale was quick to point out the need to improve stocks of laboratory reagents, sutures—which are used to mend wounds—and cotton wool.
He said: “We don’t have all the medicines and supplies. We cannot be at 100 percent, but at least 90 to 95 percent stock level is ideal. The situation is much better than several months ago and we are much more comfortable now, but laboratory reagents, sutures and cotton still need to be beefed up. There are a lot of efforts to resolve this.”
CMST is currently identifying resources for a big tender, but it has signed contracts with several suppliers, which require letters of credit from government because it does not have resources to fulfil the tenders.
Chisale also denied full responsibility for reported stock-outs of drugs and supplies in hospitals, saying it was poor management and failure to order supplies on time from CMST.
He said: “CMST is not responsible for all stock-outs, some hospitals choose not to order drugs and supplies and we are surprised when they say they have no syringes, yet we have them here.”
While hospitals have debts with CMST dating back to the kit system run by donors between 2012 and 2013, it has continued to supply them with drugs.
In the 2014/15 national budget, Parliament approved a K14 billion drug budget for district health offices against a requirement of K32 billion.
While commending CMST for increasing stock levels from five percent to 35 percent, Malawi Health Equity Network (Mhen) programme manager Lloyd Mtalimanja said the shortage of essential supplies such as sutures, which reduce loss of blood and prevents infection, was still a concern.
Said Mtalimanja: “We appreciate that CMST has been building up its stock levels the past two years, but we still have a long way to go. CMST should improve its logistical mechanisms and use every available resource to replenish stocks.”
He also commended government for the “significant increment” to the drug budget from K6 billion in 2013/14 to K14 billion this financial year, but said measured against the requirement, it was still falling short. n
