Vital drug shortages hit hospitals

A SERIOUS shortage of vital drug has plagued Zimbabwe’s crumbling public health system, triggering fears of a disaster, as chronic patients abandon taking prescribed medicine.

For decades, government has been warned about the dire effects of running down a health delivery system that was once a regional pride.

Desperate patients, most of them unemployed following decades of de-industrialisation, have been forced to seek medical care from expensively priced privately run facilities where only a few can afford.

A Zimbabwe Independent survey of the country’s biggest hospitals this week exposed graphic illustrations of the horrors confronting the sick.

Many waited in agony in winding queues, only to be directed to buy medicine from pharmacies.

One doctor said they have been forced to pay for patients’ medicines after being gripped by the gravity of the crisis.

This week, Newman

Madzikwa, acting director for pharmacy services at the Ministry of Health and Child

Care, confirmed the crisis but said government was addressing the shortages.

“We are working on rectifying the situation,” Madzikwa told the Independent.

“As you may be aware, the ministry is currently procuring medicines which have seen an improvement in medicines availability at Natpharm.

Currently, supplies are being delivered to our hospitals. Financial constraints have largely contributed to this situation. The government has intervened and we are receiving supplies to alleviate the situation.

“I would like to invite you to witness the receipts from Natpharm when I return to Harare next week. We can make arrangements for you to visit Natpharm and see,” he added.

The doctor, who spoke to the Independent on condition of anonymity, said even the most basic medicine had run out in most public hospitals.

“We are having serious drug shortages at major hospitals,” the doctor said.

“There have been shortages of basic drugs. The situation has been dire to the extent that some patients are now purchasing drugs from expensive sources. We are also having a situation where out of compassion, some of our doctors have ended up buying drugs for patients from their own pockets,” he said.

Hundreds of drugs are on the list of medications in short supply, as officials grapple with serious funding gridlocks.

The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) executive director Itairusike said while the shortage has exerted fresh pressures on underprivileged groups, it had also triggered the mushrooming of unregulated providers.

“There is evidence that drug access has fallen in recent years,” Rusike said.

“Drug availability is falling sharply at clinics, which form the frontline of the health care system in communities. This represents an unfair cost burden on poor communities and paves way for the growth of private unregulated drug markets,” he told the Independent.

Buying imported drugs is costly due to tight budgets and high inflation, as the domestic currency continues to be buttered on the dominant black market.

Rusike said recent surveys have indicated serious shortfalls in essential drugs at clinics.

“The goal should be to ensure 95% availability of vital drugs at clinics and district hospital level. These have fallen below 30%.

“Rural clinics, which mainly service the poor, have the lowest availability of vital drugs, compared with district, provincial, and central hospitals,” Rusike said.

As the crisis blazes, poor communities have turned to traditional and herbal medicines, health experts said this week.

The Independent was told that it had been taking up to six months for medicines to be delivered to the district hospitals and clinic from the date of placing an order.

Local governments have been forced to use their limited resources to protect clinics against ongoing drug and supply theft.

www.theindependent. co.zw