Government should curb wastage of medicines

At a time when many public health facilities are often grappling with a shortage of essential medical supplies, it’s disheartening to learn that Uganda National Medical Stores (NMS) has vital drugs expire. 

This past week, we learnt that NMS is embroiled in crises of employee litigation and more than Shs60b losses resulting from expiration of vital medical supplies. 

The, is a government-owned organisation, mandated to procure, store and distribute human medication and health-related consumable items to government-owned health units in all districts of Uganda.

Over the years, there has been a concerted effort to improve its efficiency in doing its job. Part of this has been deliberate investment in a warehouse and the transport system through acquisition of trucks. 

They moved to new warehouse located in Kajjansi on the Kampala-Entebbe highway after spending over two decades at their small and derelict offices in Entebbe. 

Clearly, an improvement in storage isn’t sufficient to cover for the failure to get all the drugs to those that need them before they expire. 

According to the Auditor General’s report, NMS allocated Shs185.9b to purchase of medications and medical supplies for 3,254 healthcare facilities nationwide in the year ended June 2023. 

It was found that the deliveries are not being made in accordance with the cycles. In many cases, there is under-delivery of medicines and supplies. 

NMS should urgently find out where the loophole is.

They have previously asked healthcare facilities to always put in their requisition in time while deflecting blame. 

Does it add up to see health officials in districts and the public complaining about the lack of drugs and supplies while NMS claim that no requisitions were made in time? Surely, this looks worse on NMS than it does on health officials. 

NMS have got to invest more in their collaboration and information systems to receive and respond to the needs of the final users. 

Storage and delivery of medicine and supplies is a very sensitive matter since some may require the need to keep them in facilities that may not be available in all districts. 

In this sector, meeting delivery timeframes becomes a matter of life and death. 

Delivering demands precision and efficiency. Delays can have devastating consequences.

The integrity of medical supplies must be maintained during transportation.

Tampering or theft can have severe consequences for patient care and the reputation of the delivery service. 

The resources or means needed for this have to be availed and ably utilised to ensure that both ends of the spectrum are satisfied. This calls for quick and efficient information sharing.