State Minister of Health-General Duties, Sarah Achieng Opendi blamed the current stock out of Polio Vaccines in the country on Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Opendi said that the stock out of Polio Vaccines started after Finance ministry issued a new directive on March 27, 2018 that National Medical stores (NMS) should operate as a Ministries Departments & Agencies (MDAs).
“Vaccines are delivered monthly at the beginning of the month to districts by the National Medical stores. However beginning this financial year in July, NMS could not deliver the vaccines because of the new directive from the Ministry of Finance,” Opendi.
“The implication of this is that NMS must wait for funds to be sent to their account by the MOFPED. Whereas NMS has funds on its accounts at Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic Bank including Bank of Uganda, the Accountant General, on 4th July 2018, directed NMS that payments can only be made on Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and thus cannot be made from these Accounts.”
Last week, Prossy Akampulira, Rubanda district Woman MP raised an alarm on polio vaccine stock out in the country after she had taken her baby for vaccination against polio at Nakasero Hospital and was informed that the vaccines were out of stock. She then took the child to another facility within Kampala and found the same challenge. She also indicated that other clinics within Kampala too had stock outs.
Opendi told Parliament that NMS cannot operate as an MDA and effectively deliver on its mandate which is to efficiently procure medicines and other medical supplies, and distribute them to health facilities across the country.
“NMS Operations are Supply Chain Operations and any delays in availability of funds will grind the system to a halt, resulting in the stock outs of Essential Medicines and other Health Supplies (EMHS), which negatively affects service delivery,” Opendi said.
The NMS was created by an Act of parliament, the PERD Act and is supposed to operate as an autonomous Institution.