THE Government is working on the final arrangement to allow the Medical Store Department (MSD) to procure drug consignments directly from manufacturers to eliminate middlemen agents.
Under the arrangement, MSD will make
sure that all medicinal pills including tablets and capsules as well as
syrup ordered by the government are coated or mixed with special colours
to distinguish them from the ones bought for the private sector.
Deputy Minister for Health, Community
Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Dr Khamisi Kigwangalla
revealed here that, the aim was to curb mishandling of medical supplies
(drugs and equipment) imported by the state for its citizens.
Dr Kigwangalla spoke at the inauguration
of the MSD Community Outlet at the Regional Hospital of Mount Meru in
Arusha, the fourth such facility in the series of drug shops being
established by the MSD throughout the country.
According to Dr Kigwangala, colour
coding of tablets, capsules and syrups is the second step to combat
cheats in procurement of consignments after the initial process of
embossing pills with GOT (Government of Tanzania) initials.
“So far a total of 65 different types of
pills and capsules have already been labelled with GOT letters in the
ongoing exercise but as soon as the MSD gets the approval to buy medical
supplies from manufacturers, then all medicines together with their
respective packages will be colour-coded,” Kigwangala explained.
The MSD Board Chairman, Prof Idris
Mtulia, revealed that 80 per cent of all medicine being used in the
country are imported from overseas and to ship a consignment of drug
pills, syrups and related medications might take up to six months.
“That is why the current procurement
laws need to be revised because unlike other goods, medical supplies are
sensitive and if importation has to undergo a snail-pace bureaucracy,
the country might end up being in serious shortage of drugs for
half-a-year,” he warned.
On his part, the Director General for
Medical Store Department, Mr Laurean Bwanakunu, said the opening of MSD
Community outlets countrywide was in response to the directives issued
by President John Magufuli to ensure timely accessibility of medicine to
the people at affordable costs. Interviewed Arusha residents who
attended the opening ceremony expressed delight for the initiative.
They could not believe seeing that
prices offered at the MSD drugs outlet were amazing such that private
hospitals and pharmacies demanded up to 200,000/- for a certain type of
medication today known to cost less than 10,000/- at the MSD shop.
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