Dear Editor,
Regardless of being overused the saying, ‘The health of the nation is the wealth of the nation’ will always remain relevant. Therefore, the nation’s health should be the priority of any government of any label. It is prioritized in the 2016 Budget and will again be prioritized in the 2017 Budget but the question is, are our citizens getting the benefit that they ought to get from these budgeted amounts? Do these figures really mean anything? The answer is a resounding no! Things are falling apart in the health sector and the corrupt practices coming to light are signals of impending disaster, since incompetence and corruption are the worst combination. It is indeed paradoxical that more money is being budgeted and spent but the citizens are receiving poorer health services than before.
In March 2014, Dr Norton, who was then the shadow Minister of Health pronounced on the real reason for the drugs shortage which he said lay with its sourcing. He further added that “…the Ministry of Health needs to stop playing around with people’s lives.” One year later, a source from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) revealed that 68 of 86 drugs on the essential drugs list were out of stock. This is under Dr Norton’s watch. Although this was vehemently denied by the Ministry of Health, it was later confirmed that 186 drugs were in fact completely out of stock or in short supply. It became clear that it was a bad decision by the Minister of Health to stop sourcing drugs from the New GPC before seeking alternative sources. However, it is the mother of all ironies that the same Health Minister who wanted to eradicate corruption in the health sector by ceasing to purchase from the New GPC ended up being involved in even more scandal.
This drugs shortage situation is getting worse, with no solution in sight, despite excuses and outright denials from the Health Ministry. It has become a vicious circle.
On 17th August, a letter writer wrote about the unavailability of insulin at the New Amsterdam Hospital. However, when I questioned the Director of Health Services in Berbice, Mr Jevaughn Stephens, he denied that there was such a shortage. This was on 18th August and he was technically correct since 600 bottles were purchased on 16thAugust and became available to outpatients on 18th August. But what was revealed when I checked the pharmacy records was that there had been an acute shortage of insulin since 28thJanuary, 2016. Outpatients who were insulin dependent were not given any insulin from that date until 17th August, 2016 ‒ a period of over 6 months! Whatever little insulin was in stock was used in the hospital wards and outpatients had to find up to $4,000 to purchase one bottle. This is highly unaffordable since some patients use as many as 4 bottles per month. Where will our poor citizens, especially the pensioners, find $16,000 per month? This is not about budgeting, but about delivery of health care to our citizens. This situation has been going on at all the hospitals in Region 6.
Furthermore, the 600 vials of insulin purchased by the Region 6 health administration will only last up to this month end even though outpatients are given just one vial each. When the stock ledger is scrutinized it was seen that on 19th January, 2016 only 100 vials were received and therefore even if we can attribute the drug shortage to the inefficiencies of the Materials Management Unit or late receipt of requisitions (CRIVS) from the region, it is difficult to accept that it took over 6 months for the delivery to materialize. It is difficult to accept that an emergency purchase could not have been done to alleviate the sufferings of our insulin dependent diabetics. Diabetics simply cannot wait for insulin.
However, insulin is not the only drug in short supply. There are a number of medications which are often not in stock and this includes those used in the labs.
But drug shortages are not the only problem. At the New Amsterdam Hospital, the chemical analyzer has been down for about two weeks which means that no biochemistry tests can be done, in addition to the microscope and the electrolyte machine. The surgical theatre is expected to be operational by next Wednesday after a prolonged ‘illness’ of approximately 6 weeks.
It is heartening to note that the Ministry of Public Health will be conducting investigations to determine stock balances in order to reduce these, and that the Minister “believes” that the problem lies with the requisitioning of drugs from the regions, but this attempt to shift blame to the Region is a poor shot. The Minister should not try to mask his incompetence. The Director of Health Services in Region 6 is a competent person who will never allow such infractions to take place, so it cannot be concluded that ‘mismanagement’ caused ‘shortages’. The MMU simply cannot distribute what it does not have.
Yours faithfully,
Haseef Yusuf
Chairman of Region 6 Health
Committee
