Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony yesterday accused the former APNU+AFC government of leaving Guyana with a broken health care system, which he partially blamed for compromising the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking during the debate on the 2020 national budget, held at Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Anthony said he was in utter disbelief when he took over the ministry and a survey of the Materials Management Unit (MMU) as of August 5th showed that there were some 205 items out of stock. He argued that this showed that the APNU+AFC government did not procure drugs or medical supplies for those needing it in the country.
“Mr. Speaker, right now, as I speak there is a shortage of antibiotics in the system thanks to the APNU+AFC government and Mr. Speaker in addition to all of these 156 medicines that are at zero stock, we have right now about 50 types of medical supplies that are also at zero level,” he said while adding that items like oxygen nebulizers, bandages, X-Ray film and more have to now be procured on an emergency basis.
As a result, he said some $3.2 billion had to be allocated to make the emergency purchase of these medical supplies. Those tenders, he noted, opened yesterday. He added that the new government has allocated some $14.3 billion in the budget to ensure that there is an adequate stock of medicines and medical supplies.
Added to the extreme shortage in supplies, Dr. Anthony also said that there was a large quantity of expired drugs that has been stored by the ministry for quite some time. He went on to say that over one million items, valued at $742 million, have expired from January to August of this year while another $200 million worth of drugs are expected to expire by the end of December. “Which would mean that close to 1 billion Guyana dollars would have been wasted in expired medicines and supplies,” he indicated. To dispose of this, he said, it will cost the MMU another $3 million.
He further stated that it is known that the former administration spent hundreds of millions to have medicines and medical supplies stored at bonds. He noted that prior to being renovated, the Ocean View hospital was used to store drugs and supplies. Dr. Anthony stated that a report from the Auditor General mentioned that when verifications were done at the former storage facility, they discovered, cobwebs, rodents and other pests among the drugs and supplies being stored at Ocean View.
“As of the middle of August, about 60% of the space of the MMU warehouse was taken up with expired medicines and medical supplies or items deemed unfit for human use,” he stated. According to the Health Minister, the story of shortages speaks to more than just incompetence and recklessness, “It is a story that constitutes misconduct in public office.”
In response to former Minister Dr. Karen Cummings who spoke on Wednesday of her desire for the immunisation programmes to continue under the new administration, Dr Anthony questioned why a container which contained items for immunisation programmes was sitting on a wharf for 24 months if the former minister cared so much about the initiative. This, he said, cost the new administration some $4.1 million in demurrage charges even as it took them 36 hours to contact the relevant authorities to have the container moved from the wharf to the MMU warehouse.
COVID-19
Dr. Anthony also took aim at the former administration’s management of the health care system’s response to COVID-19. He said the APNU+AFC’s flagship programme for the COVID-19 pandemic was to spend $1.6 billion on converting the Ocean View Hotel into a hospital.
“…When President David Granger declared open the facility on the 30th July; he must have known that the facility was a shell,” he stated while adding that the then president should have held former health minister Volda Lawrence accountable for what was done at the facility.
Dr. Anthony noted that the former government did not have a comprehensive plan to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic as he said it was found that the facility was inoperable. “Mr. Speaker this state-of-the-art facility that is supposed to rescue us all from the COVID-19 pandemic, APNU+AFC said that this facility would have 197 beds. When we went there we couldn’t find a single bed,” he said while adding that a number of facilities, including the Intensive Care Unit, an X-Ray facility and pharmacy were present.
He charged that the facility seems to be a cesspool for corruption. On this note, he mentioned that some eight contractors were hired on June 16th. “The same day they signed the contract and collect. Mr. Speaker, payments were made in such a hurry that contractors got paid days before the accounting officers signed and certified the vouchers,” Dr. Anthony revealed.
He further noted that there was no evidence of the contractors submitting performance bonds even as significant overpayments were made to those contractors. He noted that one contractor was overpaid some $70 million while another received $14.7 million to install an elevator at the facility even as there is still no elevator there.
“Mr. Speaker this is the legacy of His Excellency President David Granger and his APNU+AFC regime. He has left this country a broken health care system amidst a COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr. Anthony stated.
