Govt procures 60% essential drugs

Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda says government has procured 60 percent of essential medical drugs.

In an interview yesterday, she said the shortage of drugs was because of procurement challenges due to Covid-19, and not necessarily shortage of funds.

The minister said the drugs, including anaesthetics which were not available in most public hospitals, are being distributed across the country.

Chiponda assured that Treasury released K12.5 billion to Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) for the procurement of essential drugs and the remaining drugs will arrive in the next four weeks.

She also revealed that she summoned an emergency meeting on Thursday in Lilongwe where she updated stakeholders in the health sector on the drug shortage situation.

Some of the institutions that attended the meeting were Society of Medical Doctors, Nurses and Midwives Council of Malawi, Pharmaceutical Society of Malawi and Malawi Health Equity Network, among others.

The minister sounded optimistic that the situation will continue to normalise, more so with the Covid-19 situation normalising on the global scene.

Chiponda said: “We had serious problems, especially between November and December because of drug procurement issues due to the Covid-19 situation, especially in India where we get most of the drugs. We could not get them on time.

But we have 60 percent of the essential drugs that we use on a daily basis in our hospitals. Besides Lignocaine [commonly used anaesthetic] we have also normal saline [drip water].

“We received four containers [of drugs and suppliers] last week and all the drugs have been distributed to our regional central medical stores so that they can be distributed to various hospitals.”

She said in the next four weeks, the country will have enough drug stock, as on a daily basis, suppliers are providing the needed drugs.

Anaesthetics Association of Malawi president Joel Moyo, who also attended the meeting, said they were yet to be informed of the quantities and medicines that have been procured for use in theatres.

He said some important anaesthetic drugs such as Ketamine, Adrenaline, Atropine, Halothane Suximethonium and Propofol have been missing in hospitals.

Moyo said it is only in November and December when public health facilities last received some stock from donors.

He said: “The 60 percent drugs they are saying, are to do with diabetes and management of other illnesses. When we went to the meeting, they told us that anesthetics are in, but we take this as a political answer because we were not given the list of drugs and quantities.

“Some [facilities] got drugs from donors in November and December that they are still using, but they will be depleted by January end.”

Moyo said the challenge is that from the K12.5 billion which Treasury released; most of it will go to settle debts.

“The suppliers want to have their debts paid first, so it doesn’t mean that this money will give us all the drugs we need,” Moyo said.

On his part, National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives (Nonm) president Shouts Simeza confirmed that some health facilities he had checked with such as Mzuzu Central Hospital, Mitundu Rural Hospital in Lilongwe and Mulanje District Hospital had started receiving stocks from CMST.

However, he said some hospitals were failing to buy the drugs from CMST because they have depleted their drug budget.

“We have also been invited by the CMST to go to some of their warehouses to appreciate the availability of drugs, but ordering institutions are not doing that. “The problem, as we have been told, is that many districts and central hospitals have completed their budget allocations for drugs and we are being called upon to join in calling for better funding for the health sector to avert these problems,” Simeza said.