IGG directs on immunisation
Inspector General of Government Irene Mulyagonja. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
Order. Ms Irene Mulyagonja says the Health ministry must harmonise roles of vaccine distributors to avoid shortage or late delivery of immunisation drugs.
KAMPALA. The Inspector General of Government has directed the Ministry of Health to separate roles of the National Medical Stores (NMS) and the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunisation (UNEPI) as means of streamlining immunisation across the country.
Ms Irene Mulyagonja, in her report titled, “A systems study into vaccines storage and distribution in Uganda,” said there was an overlap in roles of the two institutions.
The report, released last week, said the intersection of roles happened after Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the director general of health services, directed the transfer of UNEPI functions of vaccines storage and distribution to NMS in 2012. The report says the decision was rushed.
“The ministry and NMS should expedite the measures to correct the mistakes committed during the transition process such as completion and approval of the operational guidelines, documentation of the handover process so that the management of the Central Vaccines Stores and distribution of vaccines is done by NMS in conjunction with UNEPI until such a time when NMS has built capacity to fully take over these functions,” the report reads in part.
The IGG commenced investigations into the affair after it was alleged that the transfer of functions also did not consider the provisions of the Treasury Accounting Instructions, and the Ministry of Health had been receiving complaints from districts about inadequate supply of vaccines, and frozen vaccines.
The report indicates about 33 district health officials expressed frustration with the current setting after functions were transferred and no prior consultations made. As a result, there was shortage or late delivery immunisation drugs to the districts.
The health ministry PS, Dr Asuman Lukwago, when contacted, said he was busy in meetings but said the matter would be looked into.
The trend
The number of immunised children, according to the report, “had deteriorated since end of 2011.” The number of unimmunised children had increased from 118,881 by end of 2011 to 34,935 by the end of 2012.
