The Zambia Medical Association-ZMA has attributed the current shortage of drugs and medical supplies in health facilities to the shifting of procurement functions of medical supplies from the Ministry of Health (MOH) to the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA).
Association President Dr. Crispin Moyo said there was no transitional plan to ensure that there is continuity of supply of medicines during the period that the procurement was been transitioned to ZAMMSA.
Speaking during a press conference attended by the Zambian Business Times-ZBT , Moyo however noted that enough time has passed since the signing off and implementation of the ZAMMSA Act therefore there should already be a robust interim procurement mechanism to allow for continuity of service delivery.
“The reason why we have a shortage of drugs right now is that the Ministry of Health stopped procuring medicines in September and the procurement team at the Ministry of Health was also suspended”, he said.
“There were contracts that were signed that were cancelled because they were found to have not followed the due process, that created the gap in the supply of medicines, at the same time the procurement function was immediately moved to ZAMMSA without a transitional arrangement. The contracts were cancelled meaning ZAMMSA should have quickly moved in and procured the drugs but ZAMMSA was not a procurement agency, they were focusing on storage and distribution”, Moyo said.
Moyo said while the ministry is thinking of a transitional plan to make sure that there is continuity in the supply of medicines, the budget earmarked for procurement of drugs should be proportionately apportioned to health facilities to procure directly with a clear mechanism of accountability put in place.
“Let them buy locally for now, until ZAMMSA has picked up and their procurement system has been put in place. If that were possible, the minister of health and technocrats at ministry of health should start working on that mechanism so that those monies are disbursed to the facilities or atleast at provincial level. This will ensure that the procurement of drugs continues because not having drugs in a facility today may mean death to some of our people who are vulnerable”, Moyo said.
