Africa-Press – Uganda. Heads of religious institutions under the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) have applauded the National Medical Stores (NMS) for embracing technology to promote transparency in the distribution of medicines across the country.
During a visit to the NMS headquarters and state-of-the-art warehouse in Kajjansi, the religious leaders hailed the institution’s Delivery Monitoring Tool (DMT) — an online platform that alerts stakeholders when medicines leave NMS warehouses in Kajjansi and Entebbe and confirms delivery to health facilities.
Bishop Andrew Lugoloobi, Secretary General of the Born-Again Faith in Uganda and a member of the IRCU Board, described the innovation as a milestone in public accountability.
“The public needs to know about the delivery monitoring tool to ensure there is accountability for medicines received. I am very happy that NMS has taken strides to use technology to improve visibility and transparency in medicine deliveries,” he said.
Introduced five years ago, the DMT allows Ugandans to track medicines in real time via a publicly accessible portal.
NMS General Manager, Mr. Moses Kamabare, also outlined additional interventions aimed at curbing medicine theft and misuse. These include embossing government medicines with the label “Government of Uganda, not for sale,” digitising all operations through the NMS+ system to enable real-time ordering by health facilities, and extending last-mile delivery to both medicines and vaccines.
According to Mr. Kamabare, these measures have yielded significant results.
“We’ve reduced operational costs from 35% to 7% of our total budget from the Government of Uganda, expanded warehousing capacity, and implemented tools like the DMT for transparency. But the biggest room we have is the room for improvement,” he noted.
The NMS boss also urged the religious leaders to use their platforms to promote preventive health practices, stressing that 75% of diseases affecting Ugandans are preventable.
He encouraged basic health habits such as handwashing, proper sanitation, regular exercise, and healthy eating to reduce disease burden and the demand for medicines.
On behalf of the IRCU, co-president Archbishop Jeronymos Muzeeyi of the Uganda Orthodox Church, together with the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu, praised NMS for its dedication to ensuring medicines reach those most in need.
Archbishop Kaziimba underscored the importance of collaboration between religious institutions and NMS in advancing public health.
“Health is central to our collective well-being. By leveraging the grassroots reach of faith institutions, we can bridge gaps in health literacy, counter misinformation, and ensure medicines reach the most vulnerable. This partnership is an opportunity to serve,” he said.
He further revealed IRCU’s readiness to formalise the partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding, focusing on joint campaigns to promote medicine safety, vaccine uptake, and responsible use of medical resources.
NMS says it remains committed to championing innovation and technology in health service delivery to guarantee equitable access to essential medicines for all Ugandans.
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