By CHIMPREPORTS
Our attention has been drawn to the Editorial of the Sunday Monitor of 21st January, 2024, Page 6, titled “Government Should Curb Wastage of Medicines”, and another article in the Saturday Monitor of 20th January 2024 page 6 thereof, under the heading “Lawsuits, expired drugs leave NMS on its knees”.
Both the Article and Editorial, deriving from the Auditor General’s Report, created an impression that NMS was being wasteful in the management of the resources entrusted to it, which is not true.
We wish to clarify to the Public as follows: –
- The Auditor General’s Report on NMS for the Year Ended June 2023.
The Auditor General in the Report for the Year Ended June 2023 released on 27th December 2023, returned an Unqualified opinion to NMS.
An Unqualified opinion is given when an entity has fully accounted for the funds of that Financial Year.
- Expired Medicines.
The Auditor General in his report indicated that Medicines worth sh.33 billion had expired and that the bulk of these were ARVs and Covid-19 Vaccines.
2.1 Expiry of ARVs
The ARVs expired as a result of a global change in HIV Treatment Guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO) as adopted by the Ministry of Health (MOH).
New and more effective types of ARVs were introduced and the old ones could no longer be used, hence became obsolete.
This expiry was therefore inevitable. NMS could not continue distributing ARVs which were no longer considered effective in the treatment of HIV and the HIV patients in need were put on the new ARVs.
2.2 Expiry of COVID-19 vaccines.
It is on record that COVID-19 vaccines were procured by the Government of Uganda and Development Partners in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Vaccines were necessary to contain the spread and devastating effects of COVID-19.
However, the uptake of these vaccines depended entirely on demand. NMS, with instructions from the Ministry of Health, actively worked to ensure the availability and accessibility of COVID vaccines across the Country as and when demanded.
With cases of Covid going down, the low uptake and demand of these vaccines ultimately led to the expiry. The Auditor General documents this in his report.
- Under-Delivery of Essential Medicines and Health Supplies (EMHS).
The Auditor General in his report found that health facilities did not receive EMHS worth sh.26.4 billion. The reasons for the delays and under-deliveries have been documented before, and they are beyond NMS.
It is on record that delayed deliveries/distribution of medicines was a result of delays in the release of operational funds from the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development (MOFPED) for the distribution of these medicines.
This matter was raised and discussed at the highest level, both in Parliament and in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister that was attended by officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, National Planning Authority, MOFPED, MOH, and NMS.
A solution was agreed upon. Whereas the agreed solution was expected to be implemented at the beginning of this FY 2023/2024, MOFPED has promised to resolve this matter starting next FY (2024/2025).
Delays in deliveries of EMHS are likely to be experienced until this solution is implemented.
- NMS and Employee litigation
There is no crisis as a result of employee litigation, or at all, as alleged by the Monitor Article. Any employee, anywhere, is free to go to the Courts of Law if they feel dissatisfied with the decisions of the Board or Management.
The Board of NMS in 2008 terminated the services of some employees.
This was after a Forensic Audit Report commissioned by the Office of the Auditor General implicated these staff in fraudulent deliveries of medicines.
The said staff were terminated after a hearing before the Board Disciplinary Committee. These employees went to Court and the High Court has ruled in their favor. NMS is dissatisfied with this Judgment and has already started the Process of Appealing against it.
The allegation by the Saturday Monitor that these employees were awarded sh. 300 billion is false and was intended to alarm the public and also justify the alarming headline that NMS is being brought on its knees by lawsuits.
- NMS have got to invest more in Collaboration and Information Systems to receive and to respond to the needs of the final users.
NMS has been at the forefront of innovation using technology and developing systems that bring us closer to the people we serve.
The Monitor knows this too well.
Our applications such as NMS Smart Care and Delivery Monitoring Tool (DMT) are used in sharing information with our stakeholders.
In addition, NMS, with support of USAID has put in place a robust and transparent state-of-the art Information System (ERP), dubbed, NMS+.
The NMS+ and its Client Self-service Portal (CSSP) enables public health facilities to make and track orders online promptly thereby ensuring visibility of the supply chain.
NMS+ has improved collaboration between us, MOH, Implementing Partners and public health facilities, and fosters efficiency in service delivery on both sides.
NMS is in advanced stages of integrating its ERP/NMS+ with other Electronic Medical Records at the Health Facilities, to among others curb theft of government medicines.
In conclusion, the Monitor’s role in promoting public awareness and accountability, could have been better served by simply stating the correct facts as contained in the Auditor General’s report and other sources.
We hope that this clarification provides a clearer understanding of the issues raised by the Monitor.
We wish to assure the Public that NMS remains one of the best managed Pharmaceutical Warehouses on the continent and will continue doing everything within its means to serve the Public as expected.
NMS, Passionate About Your Life!
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