More funds for hospitals to buy drugs

Health D-G: Move will ensure adequate supply for patients

PETALING JAYA: Extra allocation to buy drugs has been distributed to government hospitals to ensure there is adequate supply, says Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the ministry has identified an alternative supply source of certain drugs as well as increased allocation to ensure there is adequate supply of drugs to the hospitals.

“Additional allocation for buying drugs has been distributed to hospitals to ensure that there is adequate supply and patients are not burdened by the shortage,” he said in a statement.

He said this in response to an online portal’s report on Monday, which highlighted drug shortage in government hospitals resulting in patients needing to go to hospitals often to get their medicines.

Dr Noor Hisham said that allocation for 2017 had been channelled to all hospitals but admitted that there was supply disruption for several types of drugs as a result of a manufacturing problem faced by the company producing the drugs.

Moreover, there was an increase in the number of patients who visited the ministry’s facilities this year, he said.

He said that the policy on monthly supply of medicine for patients was implemented last year to ensure that they comply with the treatment and avoid wastage.

Dr Noor Hisham said for patients who received half the supply of their medicines, value-added services available have been provided for them to get the rest of the supply such as through existing modes like the appointment card system, SMS and take, Locker4u (available in a few states), integrated drug dispensing system and drug delivery through Pos 1Malaysia.

He said that patients could get advice from pharmacists for further explanation.

“This will address the problem of patients having to go to hospitals often to get their subsequent supply and the long wait at the pharmacies,” he said.

He said that the ministry was aware of the people’s health needs and was committed to ensuring the continuing treatment of the people.

To ensure the continuous supply of drugs, the allocation needs were often examined and any additional allocation would be channelled from time to time, he said.