Doctors face penalty for procuring unwanted drugs - govt

Entebbe.
The government is to draft guidelines to punish doctors who requisition for drugs without following the prescribed clinical guidelines, the Minister for General Duties, Dr Elioda Tumwesigye, has said.

Dr Tumwesigye said some doctors in government health facilities ask for drugs that are not necessarily needed in their health centres.

“This makes the drugs they procure expire because they are not usually wanted in their health centres, yet government using epidemiology studies came up with clinical guidelines that list common diseases per given areas,” Dr Tumwesigye said during a tour of National Medical Stores (NMS) last Thursday.

The minister said doctors should follow the government guidelines to know how to accurately quantify the different drugs per given health centres. “We are going to popularise these guidelines so that those who fault them be punished and those who follow them be rewarded,” he said.

Progress
Dr Tumwesigye said the ministry will also continue developing basic kits for health centre IIs and IIIs to ensure that all people receive adequate healthcare.
The NMS general manager, Mr Moses Kamabare, denied drugs expire in their stores.
“We wait for health centres to requisition for drugs as per their budget and they are delivered to their health centres in the shortest time possible,” he said.
Mr Kamabare urged the ministry to create measures to ensure that the health units ask for drugs as per clinical guidelines to lower cases of drugs expiring in their stores.