Health facilities in Mwinilunga district of North-western province are rationing available drugs due to inadequate supply of essential medicines.
Mwinilunga District Commissioner Harrisson Kamuna visited some health facilities to check on the supply of drugs and found that some health centres are sharing doses of certain drugs with other facilities which have completely run out of drugs.
And Mwinilunga district Hospital Head of Pharmacy Brian Kabambi said despite ordering medicines based on quarterly consumption, the hospital only received a supply of only two weeks.
“Whenever we make orders based on consumption, we receive a supply for only two weeks,” he said.
Mr Kabambi explained that the hospital is not sending off in-patients to buy medicines, but that the pharmacy department decided to reserve certain vital essential medicines for in- patients and those who are referred from other health facilities.
And Mwinilunga district Health Director Brian Mwachisowa confirmed the erratic supply of drugs in all the health facilities in the area and appealed to the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA) to step in and normalize the situation.
He however commended the government for being consistent in releasing monthly grants to health facilities, part of which is being used to procure some medicines to cushion the erratic supply.
“We are buying the drugs just to make sure that the people are able to access essential medicines,” he said.
Meanwhile the District Commissioner assured residents in the area that government is doing everything possible to ensure steady and adequate supply of essential medicines in all health facilities in the district.
Bushe tafyapwa fi shortage?
Is anything working in this government? I am so ashamed to be Zambian under this govt .
Useless government
though this being the end of the first quarter some of these problems are things of the past. I could imagine what is happening to my birth place Cheif Kakoma’s chiefdom being very remote from the District center and given impassable roads people might just be using herbs like “Musafwa, Lwenji etc to cure themselves. Something must be done. People there like any other parts of the country voted for change and this must be seen in terms of efficient health delivery services. Something should be done urgently. People can cope with power road and tele-communications networks but not health services.