Take action against thefts of medicines, EAZ urges govt

By Jane Chanda 

Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) president Oswald Mungule has called on the government to address the mismanagement of medicines and medical supplies theft which has resulted in a shortage of essential drugs in hospitals and clinics despite the released funding.

Last week, United States Ambassador to Zambia Michael Gonzales announced that the USA government had cut K1.4 billion in annual aid to Zambia’s health sector.

This decision came as a result of the country’s failure to tackle the “systematic theft” of donated drugs and medical supplies.

Commenting on the development, Mungule attributed the problem to deep-seated issues within the Ministry of Health. 

He questioned the credibility of the Ministry’s response to the US Ambassador’s announcement, which pointed fingers at previous administrations, while reaffirming the government’s commitment to strengthening the healthcare supply chain and ensuring transparency in the distribution of essential medicines.

“The reality is, this issue is neither here nor there because the drugs haven’t been reaching hospitals. Instead, they’ve been ending up in pharmacies. People have been forced to buy their own medication, and the status quo has been that hospitals and clinics issue prescriptions that patients fill at pharmacies. The aid money isn’t effective, which is why the American government has pulled out – it’s simply not working as intended,” Mungule said.

He said the US government’s decision signaled a need for Zambia to rely on its own resources.

“The decision has already been made by the American government, and they are just telling us that we should use our own resources. The country needs to generate its own resources and use those resources in the health sector,” Mungule said and advocated for Zambia to focus on growing its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to raise tax revenue and invest in critical social sectors like health and education. 

“Aid is dead; foreign aid is dead. You cannot expect foreign aid to have a positive impact on our economy because you don’t know what external countries think about you,” he said. “A healthy nation is a productive nation, and if you are productive, then income starts rising, and that can contribute positively to income increase in an economy.”

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