24 May 2022 03:34 pm
The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) has disclosed that Rs. 6,259 million worth of drugs are facing quality failure issues from 2011 to 2020 due to improper storage.
The COPA report further discloses that 99% of the drugs were already given to the patients when the condition was brought to attention and therefore, it would not be possible to recover the cost of those drugs from the suppliers.
Therefore, the Committee on Public Accounts has directed the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine to expedite the process of facilitating the storage of drugs to ensure the safety of the drugs to be implemented.
It has been observed that the temperature in the warehouses owned by the Medical Supplies Division was not maintained properly and that the medical supplies stored in the corridors of the central drug warehouses and hospitals.
The Secretary to the Ministry has pointed out that if there is a system to detect the failure of the drug as soon as it is received, the loss can be recovered from the suppliers’ guarantee and if the quality testing of 60 drugs can be done by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation, this situation can be avoided to some extent.