Amid growing concern of theft of drugs and other medical supplies in health facilities, Mzuzu Central Hospital has moved to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems to help curb the malpractice.
The facility’s chief hospital administrator Timothy Soko, in an internal communication to staff, said the CCTV has been installed in such departments as pharmacy main stores, dispensary and outpatient department registration area.
Other areas are general stores, food store, kitchen, the hospital’s front area up to the main gate and corridor from the main theatre to the kitchen.
Reads the memo: “I write to inform members of staff that the hospital has installed a cctv system in some departments and areas of the hospital.
“You should, therefore, take
note that as you enter or pass through these departments/areas you will be under CCTV surveillance.”
Hospital spokesperson Blessed Kondowe confirmed the development, saying, with advanced technology, the facility needed to up its game in enhancing security.
“We also put it in pharmacies, where we also want to monitor how our pharmacy is being managed. We are not targeting
someone, but just an innocent monitoring tool to help us monitor how we are working and how we are handling our issues,” he said.
Reacting to the development, International Coalition on Health Financing Advocacy chairperson Maziko Matemba said reports indicate that approximately 30 percent of government-purchased drugs and supplies are lost annually to theft.
“New innovations and CCTV facilities is a welcome move and the Ministry of Health has been rolling out cctv cameras in phases, starting with the Central Medical Stores Trust premises and moving into central and district hospitals to monitor drug stores,” he said.
Recently, Minister of Health and Sanitation Madalitso Baloyi expressed concerns over persistent drug shortages and theft in public hospitals
