Uganda: How districts can stop drug theft in hospitals

Michael Segawa (monitor.co.ug)

President Museveni’s remarks on drug theft during the November 2022 opening of the NMS pharmaceutical warehouse in Kajjansi, off Entebbe Road, ought to have jolted us out of sleep and motivated us to fight toward the elimination of theft of government medications.

The President said South Sudan and the DRC free marketplaces sold pharmaceuticals that Ugandan taxpayers had purchased.

We all know the folks that steal these pharmaceuticals, so why don’t we report them for their involvement in this scam?

For as long as I can recall, the government has routinely given the health sector a sizable vote out of every budget, despite constrained resources.

Also, after the Covid-19 outbreak, CT scans were performed in each regional referral hospital. The government, however, has remained troubled by the behaviour or wrongdoing of public health facility workers.

Along the health chain, some people have betrayed this noble intention.

Theft of drugs is not a recent occurrence. There have been justifications in the past for why medicine theft by health officials might have occurred. Now that they are some of the highest paid professionals, why don’t they stop drug thefts in their various workplaces?

Technology-driven measures have been put in place, especially by the NMS, although they can only prevent thefts from reaching the threshold of a health facility.

After deliveries, the criminal organisations continue to defeat the current mechanisms.

It is simple to keep track of health workers’ visits with patients, diagnostics performed, and medication given out to them thanks to enhanced reporting tools and reporting officials.

The NMS has enhanced its system for tracking medications from pharmacies to public health centres. Nevertheless, the incorrect individuals in the medical facilities have discovered a means to smuggle drugs out of the facilities. We appreciate the National Drug Authority and State House Health Monitoring Unit for continuing to make it harder for narcotics produced by the Government of Uganda to be sold openly in Uganda, but there is still more work to be done when criminals dare to export them.

We should all find it troubling that even though the government is increasing its spending on drug acquisition, patients are still being advised to buy prescription medications and other basic medical supplies from private pharmacies even though the medications are being delivered to their medical facilities.

Given that the government has dramatically expanded its funding for purchasing pharmaceuticals over the past ten years and that partners are leveraging government efforts in the health sectors, drug shortages in our healthcare facilities should have been significantly decreased.

The amount of medications handled by NMS in 2012 was Sh185.5 billion, but as of June 2022, it was Sh2.38 trillion!

We are to find a solution to the problem of extending government services to the last mile, as requested by the President. And that is exactly what we are all doing. I’m pleased to see that journalists are heeding the same call.

What should be done? Anyone who steals medications from hospitals is not only dishonest; they are also thieves and enemies of the Ugandan people.

Health professionals should be made aware that stealing medications violates their Hippocratic Oath. Without trustworthy healthcare professionals, the issue will persist. By changing the NDA law, Parliamentarians must pass strict regulations against the theft of medical equipment. Theft of medical goods need to be as risky as theft from military supply stores. Drugs concern lives. Stealing drugs ought to be punishable by death.

The legal system is similarly flawed in our country. Judges ought to refuse these people bail if they are discovered in possession of stolen medical supplies. But the Parliament should be the one to start that. The Ministry of Health should invest in digital healthcare systems so that reconciliation may be monitored in real time at various locations while recording is done at the health unit.

Michael Segawa works as the Deputy RCC for the Southern Division in Jinja City.