HEALTH MINISTRY’S DRUGS SHORTAGE BLUNDER

MBABANE – Traces of the possibility that the shortage of drugs and medical supplies experienced in the country’s public health institutions was self-inflicted have emerged.

Investigations by the Times SUNDAY show that even though some drugs and medical supplies had run out at the Central Medical Stores (CMS), some were available but could not be dispensed to the various health institutions.
Two health officials close to the drugs and medicines supply chain have revealed that the shortage was caused by the relocation of the supplies from the old Central Medical Stores building to a new one, which are just a stone’s throw away from each other. Although they agreed that some of the drugs and medicines ran out at the CMS warehouse, they, however, said that it was not all of them that were in short supply.

The officials, who cannot be named because of the matter’s sensitivity and to protect them from victimisation at their workplace, told this publication that some senior officials in the ministry of health told CMS officers that there should be no dispensing of supplies until the relocation was complete.
This is despite that the hospitals and clinics were reportedly not informed of the relocation and had not been given prior notice to stock up.
As a result, the drugs crisis is said to have ensued and the ministry’s officials are now being blamed and accused of not being proactive.

“From February until the end of April, the central medical stores were moving to a new warehouse and during this period there was no supplying of medicines and drugs to hospitals. Procedurally, if, for example, there would be stock-taking, the hospitals and clinics are notified two months before so that they stock up for the months ahead. That is what was supposed to happen even during the relocation of the warehouse, but it did not happen,” one of the officials disclosed.
The officials said it was between February and April that the public health institutions began experiencing the shortage but the problem played itself out fully in May when the supplies ran out.
The other official stated: “Even if there was a drugs shortage, it was not all of them that were not available.

If that was the case, it would mean the warehouse was empty. For example, there were anti-biotics, sugar diabetes drugs and various painkillers but we got reports that government had also run out of these. Some health institutions reported shortage of surgical gloves yet they were in full supply at the warehouse.”
 They blamed the ministry for being only concerned with installing trackers on the trucks that deliver the medical supplies, not the supplies themselves. When one of the ministry’s officials was contacted, he asked not to comment and referred enquiries to either the Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Dr. Simon Zwane or the Director of Health Services Dr. Vusi Magagula. Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Simon Zwane, who previously told parliament that the shortage was caused by government’s failure to pay its suppliers, asked not to comment when confronted on the latest findings by this newspaper.

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