Medical manufacturers may not prioritise Eswatini
MBABANE - ‘Eswatini being a small populated country may not be prioritised by manufacturers when buying medical commodities’.
This is according to the Acting Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health, Ncamsile Mtshali. This follows assertions by the former Minister of Health, Njabulo Mabuza, who said anyone who could stand up and promise sufficient drugs in the country would be lying to the nation.
He was speaking during the birthday celebration of former Hhukwini Member of Parliament (MP) Saladin Magagula last week.
Mabuza said while serving in the ministry, he learnt that Eswatini did not have a buying power when it came to medical drugs. “For a country to have sufficient drugs, it has to purchase them in bulk from the drug market, which is in India. For the country to be considered for stock, it has to have a large population. In our case, I found out that Eswatini has less population compared to other countries, which results in her not being prioritised,” said Mabuza.
Population
He said the country had to rely on South Africa, which has a bigger population, to procure drugs.
Mabuza was also echoed by a health expert, who shared that the lack of buying power had resulted in the country resorting to other means, to procure drugs as opposed to buying from the manufacturing countries.
He said the danger of that was that most of the drugs purchased outside the manufacturing industries were close to expiry dates.
“Have you asked yourself why the country destroys so many drugs after purchase? The answer is simple, those drugs are sold towards their expiry date,” the expert said.
Mtshali further said the procurement process followed by the ministry was mostly through issuing open tenders; and inviting international and local companies to submit their bids in line with the tender requirements.
The acting PS said the tender process ensured that only drugs and medical supplies with quality certificates for manufacturing were allowed into the country.
In terms of buying power, she explained that the country, having a small population, may not be prioritised by manufacturers when buying medical commodities.
According to Mtshali, this may cause delays and supply chain disruptions from time to time.
“Sometimes certain products are not bided for through the tender system (because of very small quantities required), which results in certain drugs and supplies being perpetually out of stock,” she said.
Adding, the acting PS said they were then faced with a reduced supplier base, whereby the remaining ones ended up being overwhelmed with the demands, coupled with delayed payments of suppliers.
She mentioned that they were also faced with staff shortages at procurement and the Central Medical Stores (CMS) to handle the supply of the medicines.
Mtshali assured the nation that they would continue with the tendering process.
She said the placement of purchase orders to the awarded suppliers was planned to happen quarterly and expedite payment of suppliers.
The acting PS highlighted that they would engage development partners to assist in the procurement of drugs and further expand the pooled procurement avenues in the African region.
Recently, this publication reported that government had spent over E31 million on medical drugs and part of the consignment catering for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) had been delivered.
The medication was said to have been delivered at the CMS and it was still being captured in the system at the time. The arrival of the consignment was monitored by the Principal Pharmacist, Nomsa Shongwe, and the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Khanyakwezwe Mabuza.
On the day of the delivery of the medical drugs, Minister of Health Mduduzi Matsebula informed the nation that the prevailing medicine and medical supplies shortage crisis was progressively being rectified.
Matsebula said the ministry was aware of the crisis and sincerely apologised to the public for the impact that the drug shortage issue had on the health of the nation, particularly the shortage of critical medication for NCDs.
He said the ministry was working round the clock to resolve this issue and further expressed assurance to the nation that stocks of medicines and medical supplies were gradually being received.
Meanwhile, the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Secretary General (SG), Mayibongwe Masangane, said the country’s health sector is allegedly weak on preventative measures.
Masangane said this increased the demand for the continuous procurement of drugs.
According to Masangane, the country can have sufficient drugs if it could invest more in primary healthcare; ‘the preventive side’. He explained that this could reduce the demand for the procurement of drugs because Eswatini also has a challenge in terms of buying power from manufacturers.
System
Masangane said when the health system was weak in preventative programmes, that exposed the country and could lead to an inability to procure sufficient drugs for its citizens.
Adding, he stated that countries that were unable to meet the manufacturers’ demand in terms of drugs procurement, tended to utilise other means, like using the United Nations (UN) agencies.
He said the agencies had their own way of accessing the markets, which was beneficial to most African countries that did not have the buying power.
“The country sometimes relies on such agencies to ensure that drugs are available. However, what we have noted is that the country tends not to pay. These agencies want payment and to them, the drug potency is guaranteed,” Masangane alleged.