Africa-Press – Zambia. Government has established the National Supply Chain Coordination Unit Control (NSCCU) to improve coordination among partners in the medical supply chain to mitigate the shortage of drugs in the country.
Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary for Technical Services, Lackson Kasonka says government has also increased the medicines and medical supplies budget allocation from 1.4 billion Kwacha to K4.6 billion in 2023 in order to address the drug shortages.
Speaking when he officiated at the National Supply Chain Review Meeting Organized by Ministry of Health and other Co-operating partners in the supply Chain, Prof Kasonka said government has also established medicines and medical supplies Fund to support the procurement of medicines and medical supplies for public health facilities in the country.
Prof. Kasonka has also disclosed that government through the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) has expanded the national laboratory in order to improve the global status of regulation and quality control of medicines in the country.
He said the Ministry of Health intends to maintain a consistency level of disbursement of grants to hospitals and districts to facilitate the emergency procurement threshold from four percent for districts and 10 percent for hospitals to 30 percent.
Prof. Kasonka said the long term measures are expected to translate into improved availability of medicines and medical supplies in health facilities.
He added that the Ministry of Health is supported by 28 procurement and supply chain partners in order to address critical issues across the supply chain.
Prof. Kasonka said government has realigned the procurement function of medicines and medical supplies from the Ministry of Health to the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA) to ensure efficiency and responsiveness in the procurement of medicines and medical supplies in the country.
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