At a time when the high costs associated with delivering free health care at state-run facilities continues to place a strain on the public purse, the Report of the Auditor General continues to reflect grave misgivings about the management of pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies being held in various state-run bonds and storehouses under the control of the Ministry of Health.
The recently released Report of the Auditor General for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 indicates that the Health Ministry is hard-pressed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the presence of 327 items of stock valued at $208,090 million lying expired and, in effect, unusable in its bonds and warehouses.
In response to this, the Office of the Auditor General is calling for “a country-wide survey to determine the realistic needs of pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies in order to reduce losses through expired drugs.”
Even as the Office of the Auditor General pronounces on other aspects of the ministry’s systems and mechanisms for the acquisition of drugs, the report asserts that “overstocking must have been a contributory factor” for those millions of dollars in spoilage.
A table published in the Auditor General’s report indicates that in excess of 95 sets of pharmaceuticals and other expired supplies valued at $120,960,000 were being stored at an “offsite” facility at Ruimveldt. Meanwhile the Ministry of Health’s Diamond Warehouse was housing up to 135 different sets of expired medical supplies valued at $84,620,000. Other state-run storehouses at Bartica, Cane Grove, Mabaruma and Mahaicony reportedly hold up to 29 different types of medical supplies cumulatively valued at up to more than $3 million.
In its response to the enquiries from the Office of the Auditor General, the Ministry of Health reportedly pointed out that the volume of expired drugs should be measured against the total value of purchases to take account of the World Health Organisation’s standard of 5 per cent expiration for developing countries. Additionally, the ministry made the point that expiry potential for HIV drugs would have increased in view of the fact that many persons did not fall ill.
