The supply of drugs to Region One (Barima/Waini) by Minister within the Ministry of Public Health Dr Karen Cummings was not enough and the region is once again left to deal with a shortage.
This is according to Vice Chairperson of the region Sarah Browne, who spoke to Stabroek News following the conclusion of a meeting with officials of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) on Friday where concerns on the issue were shared.
Browne related that the region’s Health Committee continued to express concern over what is described as another instance of a shortage of basic drugs.
“Panadol, Chlorophan and other drugs that we need daily are not available and for those who can’t afford or those living far off they have to do without. If we don’t have the drugs we cannot send teams to do outreaches,” Browne said.
When asked about the supplies that were distributed to region by the Ministry of Public Health back in September, the regional official stated that the supplies were not enough since said stock was “long overdue”, and those supplies “only put a dent in the situation.”
Browne also took the opportunity to publicly request that the ministry produce financial statements to show the extent to which budgetary allocations for the procurement of drugs on behalf of the region has been utilized.
“While we are suffering, we have in our budget $80 million for the procurement of drugs and medical supplies of that we warranted $77 million to Ministry of Public Health for them to procure on our behalf as is a requirement. But to date, they have not been forthcoming with our supplies,” she said.
“From our estimates looking at what we received, it’s approximately 25 per cent of the $77 million from January to now, so you can begin to imagine our shortage; people are suffering here when there is money in the ministry to procure our drugs,” Browne added.
Based on the Auditor General’s report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Region Six had faced a similar situation.
“The Ministry of Public Heath received 11 inter-departmental warrants totalling $890,585 million from the ten administrative regions, for the procurement of drugs and medical supplies. However, only an amount of $5.37 million was expended on the acquisition of drugs and medical supplies for Region 6, leaving an unexpected balance of $885,214, million,” the report said.
“In addition, at the time of reporting, the Ministry of Public Health was still to receive drugs and medical supplies valued at $370,580,000, which were already paid for,” it added.
When contacted for a comment, Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton stated that when the supplies were distributed in September, the ministry was assured that they were enough to last for the rest of the year.
Nevertheless, the minister indicated plans to check with staff in the area to verify the situation while adding that the ministry is working assiduously to improve the notification and supply system of the drug distribution process for the benefit of all regions.
