26 November 2008
Maputo — Mozambique's Health Minister, Ivo Garrido, has warned that the number of pharmacists and other pharmaceutical staff in the country fails to cover even a fifth of the current needs of the country's National Health Service (SNS).
Garrido, who was speaking in Maputo on Wednesday at the opening of a National Pharmacy Meeting, said that Mozambique still faces a huge lack of human resources in the pharmaceutical area.
The three-day meeting is taking place under the theme "For quality and accessibility of medicines",
During the meeting, Garrido listed a number of problems faced by the SNS in the purchasing, supply and distribution of drugs by the pharmaceutical services. According to Garrido, the network of both private and state pharmacies still leaves a lot to be desired, as most of the 128 districts in Mozambique still lack a single private pharmacy, meaning that the local population rely entirely on state pharmacies.
The government budget for the purchase of medicines is meagre, said Garrido, hence Mozambique spends just 60 meticais (about 2.5 dollars) per capita per year on medicines for the SNS.
However, even if that figure were to double it would not be enough. Garrido pointed out that other countries spend over 100 times that sum on the purchase of medicines.
Garrido also expressed his concern at the lack of storage facilities for medicines at national, provincial and district level. Mozambique also faces serious constraints in the management of medicines, ranging from stock control, distribution, and rational prescription of medicines.
This sad reality provides a fertile ground for resurgence of old problems, such as the theft of medicines and their subsequent illegal sale in the informal sector, which poses serious risks to public health.
Garrido reiterated, however, that health professionals are committed to their patients' welfare, and that this meeting seeks to refresh and strengthen their determination to combat all activities that, in one way or another, still hinder the access of 20 million Mozambicans to medicines.
The minister also attacked those private pharmacies that continue to import medicines illegally and sell to the public drugs that are not registered in Mozambique.
Others, he said, motivated by greed, violate the norms for fixing prices for medicines and sell drugs at exorbitant prices.
Such abuses have forced the Health Ministry not only to impose heavy fines on offenders, but even to close down some pharmacies and medical storehouses.
Nonetheless, Garrido stressed that the private pharmaceutical sector has an important role to play. He said the relationship between his Ministry and the private sector has improved, and there are now regular consultations, via the Confederation of Mozambican Business Associations (CTA).
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