The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr. Diana Atwine and the NMS General Manager, Mr. Moses Kamabare at the press briefing.
The Ministry of Health has embarked on a drive to collect and dispose off expired and obsolete pharmaceutical from 6,619 health facilities in Uganda, both Government owned and Public Not For Profit.
This process will create more space for adequate storage of drugs delivered by National Medical Stores (NMS), and prevent the risk of; public health hazards and pilferage, and relabelling as a result of keeping such items in health facilities for long. Expired pharmaceuticals are a growing concern in the country and can also result into a risk to national security.
It is naturally expected that about 5% of pharmaceuticals in the distribution chain is bound to end up as obsolete or expired. The last time such a massive exercise was carried out was in 2012. Currently, the estimated quantities of expired medicines all over the country are believed to be about 1,200 to 1,500 tons.
A collaborative approach has been put in place between National Drug Authority (NDA), National Medical Stores (NMS), Joint Medical Stores (JMS) and Ministry of Health (MoH) towards successful implementation and execution of this exercise, as follows:
NMS and Ministry of Health would like to thank all those who turned up and braved the long queues during the Free Yellow Fever Vaccination exercise that took place at Mandela National Stadium - Namboole from 28th November - 08th December 2017.
Read more: FREE YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION TO RESUME ON 18th - 22nd DEC AT NAMBOOLE
NMS would love to respond to the false news which has been making rounds on social media about the shortage of ARVs, and in particular, that PEPFAR gave money to NMS to procure ARVs. We appeal to the public to treat the rumor with the contempt it deserves.
We clarify that NMS has not received any money from PEPFAR for procurement of ARVs.
We remain steadfast in ensuring that Ugandans get quality essential medicine and medical supplies to the extent of the budget made available to it
NMS: Passionate about your life.
Management
24th October 2017
Due to the large numbers that turned up for the first 3 days of the Free Yellow Fever Vaccination, NMS in partnership with Mulago National Referral Hospital and Ministry of Health have extended the vaccination exercise for another 4 days starting from Tuesday 03rd - Thursday 06th Oct 2017 at Kololo Independence Grounds from 8:00AM till 4:00PM. Come with your National ID
Read more: FREE YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION EXTENDED TILL 05th OCT 2017
Our attention has been drawn to a Press Release by Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development which appeared in the New Vision, Daily Monitor and The Red Pepper of Thursday, 15th June 2017, and the Statements of the Hon. Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development while being hosted on CBS 89.3 FM Radio Program of Wednesday, 15th June 2017.
The Release misleads the General Public into believing that NMS got, and was meant to get, the sh.68billion from Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development from the PTA Bank as part of the general funding from the Consolidated Fund.
Since the Author of this Press Release is an Economist, we can only say that, at the very best, he was “economical with the truth”. On the part of NMS, we deal in medicines and we shall therefore “dispense the truth” as here under, as we believe that it is only the truth that will set us free:-
1. In the Financial Year 2010/11, FY 2011/12 and FY 2014/15, NMS suffered budget cuts totalling to sh.36,447,251,373/=. The non-release, in all the above cases, was in Quarter 4 when NMS would have already procured the Essential Medicines and Health Supplies (EMHS) for delivery to the
Health Facilities.