By NATION REPORTER
SHORTAGES of drugs and other medical supplies have continued in hospitals and clinics with those not on the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIMA) scheme being told to purchase their own medication.
A number of stakeholders have blamed corruption as the major cause with former Pharmaceutical Society of Zambia president Jerome Kanyika left angered that the country has continued experiencing persistent and critical shortage of drugs in most of the health facilities despite government having released money to the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA).
Mr Kanyika has attributed the continued shortage of medicines and other medical supplies in hospitals across the country to corruption allegedly taking place at ZAMSA.
There has been persistent shortage of medicines and other medical supplies in the country for more than a year and government has failed to resolve the shortage because the Minister of Health Silvia Masebo has continued claiming that there are no shortages of drugs in hospitals.
Most hospitals have continued operating without essential medicines countrywide and patients are being prescribed with prescriptions so that they could buy their own medicines.
Clinics did not have medicines and patients that were not on NHIMA were told to buy their own medication. And now Mr Kanyika, the former Pharmaceutical Society of Zambia president says the drug shortage crisis was dire as Zambians were dying needlessly despite government releasing the money to ZMMSA for the procurement of drugs.
Mr Kanyika said there was too much corruption at ZMMSA which he said had caused the non-procurement of medicines despite government having released the stipulated amount to acquire drugs in hospitals.
“Government released K3.6 billion to ZMMSA but since the agency has engaged in petty issues like engaging foreign entities that have failed to deliver, the shortage of drugs has persisted. We are still having shortages of medicines and other medical supplies in our hospitals because of the corruption at ZAMSA that has chosen to engage or source the drugs using foreign companies leaving our local pharmaceutical manufacturers,” Mr Kanyika said.
He said ZMMSA did not follow the ZPPA act when engaging the contractors to deliver the drugs whom he accused of having failed to deliver the drugs to government.
Mr Kanyika said the drug suppliers that had been engaged were incompetent and this had resulted in the country paying heavily as people were dying yet money for the procurement of drugs had been released. And Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) executive member who wanted to remain anonymous said there was need to stabilise the procurement system which at the moment was erratic.
The concerned source said that the situation was quite bad as hospitals were crippled and they had no option but to send the patients away with prescriptions.
“The situation is becoming worse by the day that is why we have time and again asked government to consider start making drugs locally,” he said.
