Ministry seeks K15bn for drugs

Public hospitals are experiencing stockouts of essential medicines and medical supplies due to funding challenges, a development that has forced the Ministry of Health to appeal for an additional K15 billion drug budget.

Speaking yesterday when the Ministry of Health appeared before a Joint Parliamentary Committee on Health and Government Assurance and Public Sector Reforms, Ministry of Health Principal Secretary (PS) responsible for administration Beston Chisamile said the major factor contributing to drug stockouts is inadequate funding.

He said: “There is funding gap of about K20 billion. Some districts have already exhausted their 2023/2024 drug budgets.

“For the hospitals to sustain services, central hospitals need an additional K6 billion while district hospitals need an additional K6 billion to provide services up to March.”

Chisamile said districts councils that have exhausted their budgets include Neno, Kasungu, and Lilongwe.

The PS said there is an overall utilisation of K10.5 billion out of the K13.8 billion provided to district councils for drug budget, with the remaining K3.3 billion meant to be utilised for the seven months to the end of the year

Chisamile has since appealed to Parliament to provide more funding to the public health facilities during the Mid-Year Budget Review to finance local councils for the remaining seven months, fearing that if hospitals are not provided with funding, they will end up borrowing, which has its own implications.

Parliamentary Committee on Health chairperson Mathews Ngwale said more district hospitals are running out of drugs due to funding challenges.

“Last year we experienced a similar situation. About 12 district councils had run out of the drug budget by this time. Now they are saying four councils, but this could be an old evaluation.

“There are more hospitals that are running out of drugs and are facing funding challenges. If you go to health centres in rural areas, there are no drugs. Patients are being asked to go and buy,” he said.

Ngwale called for the need to find a lasting solution to the drug stockouts, saying every year hospitals experience the same challenge.

In an interview, Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) chief executive officer Chikaiko Chadzunda said CMST helps in such situations by giving medicines on credit.

“Normally when there is such a situation we would inform the ministry saying a number of hospitals have run out of the budgets. They have drained all the budget so give us a go ahead that we continue supplying on credit,” he said.

Chadzunda, however, said central hospitals already owe CMST about K4 billion, while district hospitals owe the trust about K 1 billion.

The Ministry of Health undertook an annual quantification of the needs for the financial year 2023/24 to cover essential medical supplies and it was indicated that it will need K49 billion.