Africa-Press – Eswatini. Cabinet has set up a sub committee to look into the challenges faced by the health sector and has come up with eight interventions.
The committee is chaired by the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo and other members include, the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg, Minister of Health Mduduzi Matsebula, Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi, Health Principal Secretary (PS) Khanya Mabuza and the Prime Minister’s (PM) Office PS Bertram Stewart.
This is one of the drastic steps taken by government on Monday, to resolve the health crisis, triggered by the shortage of drugs in the government health system. In a press statement, Prime Minister Russell Dlamini said the subcommittee would meet daily to monitor and ensure that a turnaround plan was implemented to resolve the crisis.
Supplies
The subcommittee is formed at a time when the country is faced with severe drugs and medical supplies shortages. This saw patients being forced to purchase required medication in pharmacies. Some patients staged a blockade at the Mbabane Government Hospital main gate, demanding medication. To understand the situation on the ground and further assess the challenges, Minister Matsebula and the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Thulisile Dladla toured the Mbabane Government Hospital Emergency and Referral Unit and the Central Medical Stores (CMS) last week. According to Dlamini, government spends about E2.6 billion on the health sector annually, which is equivalent to about 10 per cent of the annual national budget.
The PM said at least E700 million of the E2.6 billion was used to acquire pharmaceuticals. He explained that this huge investment on the health sector came at the expense of other development sectors and it was almost impossible to stretch the envelope further.
Shortages
Despite the huge investment, the PM mentioned that the health system had continually deteriorated with serious shortages of medicines and drugs, effectively, putting the lives of emaSwati at risk. The premier stated that part of the drastic steps taken by Cabinet was that the Ministry of Health must, with immediate effect, expedite the makeover of the CMS and its conversion to be semi-autonomous, which would be a government institution responsible for the acquisition, distribution, and disbursement of pharmaceuticals. “The parastatal must have a world class automated system to monitor and exert control on the entire supply chain,” Dlamini said. Adding, he said the ministry would also immediately intensify its strategic focus on preventive health by up scaling health promotion and by tackling the root causes of the identified major health problems. Dlamini went on to state that the new wing of the Mbabane Government Hospital, inclusive of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), would be operationalised for the provision of critical health services.
Resources
He said this would eventually reduce the large outflow of government resources through the Phalala Fund. “The ministry will fill critical vacant positions necessary to optimise the Mbabane Government Hospital as a referral hospital. The Department of Finance in the ministry will be immediately strengthened to be responsive and proficient, and to meet the demands of the sector,” he said. Furthermore, the PM said they had taken a step on renal dialysis to be prioritised with an immediate allocation of funds for the payment of service providers, for continuity, as well as to enable an expansion of this critical service. Dlamini assured the nation that the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) would intensify investigation of any corrupt practice by service providers and government employees throughout the entire supply chain of pharmaceuticals, with the intention to punish offenders.
Implementation
He said they were confident that the urgent implementation of these interventions would bring relief to the current crisis and, therefore, implored the public for support in any way possible. The PS in the Ministry of Health said the availability of drugs was the priority, ensuring that all essential drugs were available. Mabuza said they were already working on the issue so that the crisis was averted soon. He said with the availability of funds, they would ensure that drugs were available in all health facilities. Meanwhile, the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Secretary General Mayibongwe Masangane welcomed the steps taken by the new Cabinet, stating that they had seen many processes and promises. However, Masangane revealed that as a union, they had a feeling that the steps would not fully address the health crisis because they strongly believed that, the health care funding model was also a problem. He said they were giving Dlamini a new blank cheque to fill in.
Source: TIMES
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