Sikika Press Release: The availability or ‘unavailability’ of medicines for
suffering patients in Tanzania is many times the distance between life and
death especially for those living upcountry.
It is a fact that the lack of a highly cohesive countrywide medicine &
supplies distribution system continues to afflict public health facilities
and could be leading to preventable suffering and even deaths.
This is even after the sole supplier to government health facilities,
Medical Stores Department (MSD), introduced a new direct delivery system of
medicines and supplies distribution starting from 2010/2011 financial year
with a view of becoming more efficient.
In the old system, MSD would deliver supplies up to the district level, and
then the District Medical Officers (DMOs) would deliver the consignments to
respective health facilities according to their orders. This was sewn in a
myriad of problems ranging from late deliveries, missing items, short expiry
products amongst others.
For many years, health facilities were not happy with the system, where the
blame game became the order of the day. MSD blamed DMOs and vice versa,
leaving the issue of who to hold to account in limbo. Members of Parliament
are on record lamenting about the uncorking system that led to a lot of
wastages and mass public complaints. In the new system, piloted by MSD in
Tanga Region from February to April 2010, it was discovered some health
facilities not operational were ordering medicines via DMOs.
After the project was expanded into other regions, a number of problems have
emerged. In Kilombero District for example, there were complaints that many
of health facilities received medicines and supplies late, and the amount
invoiced and paid for, did not correspond to the physical quantities of the
medicines and supplies that were delivered.
Sikika holds that timely delivery of medicines and supplies countrywide can
save lives and must be a key focus for MSD to justify its existence. We call
upon MSD to urgently improve the new system. This should involve
restructuring it to ensure implementation addresses all the shortcomings of
the older system. The new system must guarantee improved availability and
accessibility of medicines and supplies in the health facilities.
Sikika also calls upon MSD to urgently improve the systems of flow of
information, to and from its store and the health facilities, to enhance the
new system. This can be done by holding each person responsible for packing
and delivery into account. Here the order sheets should show who packed and
checked what supplies, and who to contact in order to file a complaint. At
the same time, Sikika is also appealing to the Ministry of Heath to
strengthen MSD so as to enable it make good the new delivery system.
The Ministry must ensure MSD establishes clear complaint mechanisms in order
to track and act upon all complaints regarding medicines and supplies from
the health facilities that it serves. This will enable MSD to be held
accountable, and more importantly save lives and ease patients suffering
across many health facilities in the country.
Issued by
Mr. Irenei Kiria
Executive Director of Sikika, P.O.Box 12183 Dar es Salaam,
Tel: +255 222 666355/57, Fax: 2668015, Email: info@sikika.or.tz, Website:
www.sikika.or.tz