Drug theft ring busted
Drug pilferage is refusing to die in public hospitals as a joint operation between Malawi Police Service (MPS) and Dowa District Health Office (DHO) has busted a multi-million kwacha drug theft syndicate involving civil servants and security guards.
The Dowa incident has come against a background of multifaceted efforts by the Malawi Government and donors such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) and the Global Fund for Tuberculosis, Malaria and HiV and Aids to reduce drug pilferage which in 2016 resulted in the loss of drugs and supplies amounting to K5 billion out of the Ministry of Health’s K17 billion drugs budget.
The syndicate came to light last week after security guards at Dowa District Hospital intercepted an auxiliary nurse, James Nkhoma, as he left the hospital premises carrying a laptop bag which, it later turned out, contained 1 800 tablets of LA (malaria drugs), 75 malaria test kits, 150 cycles of contraceptives, 1 000 piriton tablets,1 000 tablets of paracetamol, four bottles of Ceftiaxone which is anti-bacterial injection and 10 vials of the anti-inflammatory steroid dexamenthasone.
A report from Dowa District Council acting director of health and social services Dr. Peter Makoza to the district commissioner copied to Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Dr. Dan Namarika indicates that the discovery of the drugs was a culmination of complaints received from various hospital departments at the strange rate of consumption of pharmaceutical products they ordered.
An analysis of the consumption compared to the quantity ordered in March alone found, for instance, that there was zero stock balance from 23 vials of dexamenthasone issued by pharmacy when only four vials were dispensed.
Reads the report which The Nation has seen: “It was suspected that there was a well-crafted network for drug pilferage and theft as explained by this questionable increase in consumption of drugs and supplies from the user departments and pharmacy.
“Not only that, but also the disappearance of other valuable medical equipment such as Salbutamol nebulisers, BP machines.”
Following the arrest of Nkhoma and a clinician at the hospital, Pearson Tembo, Dowa Police extended their investigations and traced the destination of the drugs to Bowe Trading Centre in the district where the first suspect identified a security guard at Bowe Health Centre, Mphatso Malenga, as the one who came to Dowa District Hospital to buy the drugs.
In an interview yesterday, Dowa Police Station spokesperson Richard Kaponda said while still at Bowe Trading Centre, the detectives received a tip from a whistle-blower indicating that some drugs were delivered to Takondwa Private Clinic owned by Thom Katunga, an orthopaedic clinical technician at Dowa District Hospital who is currently at large.
A search at the clinic revealed drugs and supplies with batch numbers matching with those of the drugs recovered earlier at the Dowa District Hospital.
In his report, Makoza said the medical supplies found at the private clinic included BP machines, kidney dishes and surgical clamps, among others, whose batch numbers matched those of drugs ordered from Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST).
Other government drugs found at the private clinic included Paracetamol, vials of Ceftriaxone and Benyl Penicillin, Ciprofloxacin, Plaster of Paris and Indomethacin, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Dowa District Health Management Team (DHMT) has recommended the immediate dismissal of Nkhoma for being found in possession of drugs without any documentation after he admitted that he stole the drugs.
Commenting on the development, Malawi Health Equity Network (Mhen) executive director George Jobe said the fight against drug pilferage cannot be won if civil society is not involved in the initiatives.
He said: “There are several drug theft monitoring initiatives, but the civil society is not aware of their findings. The government and donors should consider involving civil society and empowering them to carry out litigation.”
The four suspects are expected to appear before the Dowa Magistrate’s Court to answer the charge of theft by a public servant.
However, a Global Fund report Proactive Investigation Into Anti-Malarial Product Theft from Public Health Facilities in Malawi found that there are lower conviction rates for public servants charged with stealing drugs from public hospitals than those charged with selling them at private outlets.
The report indicated that this was because the offense of theft by a public servant was difficult to prove.
At the time of the Global Fund investigation, only three out of 14 public servants charged had been convicted compared to 34 out of 37 other suspects charged with offences related to drug theft. n
