-Auditor General’s Report
The Auditor General’s Report on the public accounts for 2023 says that billions of dollars worth of drugs expired between January 2023 and June 2024.
“During the period January 2023 to June 2024, a quantity totalling $3.228 billion were expired and disposed of by the Ministry of Health. In addition, a quantity totalling $2.332 billion were still on hand to be disposed” of, the report tabled yesterday in the National Assembly said.
It said that a Register of Expired Drugs was not presented for Audit Examination. However, the Ministry provided lists containing Expired Drugs disposed of and those on hand to be disposed of at the Diamond MMU and Ruimveldt locations as summarized in the tables below:
The report said that the Head of Budget acknowledged the finding.
The Audit Office recommended that the Head of Budget Agency: (i) undertake a survey to determine the realistic needs of pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies at these Institutions and ensure the proper storage of Drugs and Medical Supplies in order to reduce losses through expiration of improper storage; and (ii) dispose of all expired drugs in accordance with the Food and Drug Regulations.
The expiration of large quantities of drugs has been a perennial problem for ministries of health and particularly under PPP/C governments which have been in charge from 1992 to 2024 save for a five-year period. Promises have been repeatedly made to curb this wastage.
In recent years, the PPP/C government had criticized the APNU+AFC administration over the amount of expired drugs during its tenure from 2015 to 2020.
