We do not supply expired drugs to hospitals - NMS

By Moses Walubiri

The National Medical Stores (NMS) and the National Drug Authority (NDA) have refuted claims by Mbale and Arua referral hospitals that they supplied expired drugs to the hospitals.

The hospitals accused the authorities of importing drugs with a short shelf-life.

But NMS and NDA contend that drugs with less than 75% shelf-life are deemed contraband under laws governing drugs in the country.

Appearing before the public accounts committee of Parliament, the heads of Mbale and Arua hospitals told MPs that drugs that normally expire in their stores are donations which they receive from the authorities. They said at times these drugs are supplied a few months to their expiry dates.

This was in response to queries in the Auditor General’s report for the year ending June 2010, which laid bare a string of accountability issues in a host of referral hospitals.

“The bulk of these drugs are donations which we receive when they are about to expire. They are normally pushed by Ministry of Health and sometimes without us requisitioning for them,” the director of Mbale Referral Hospital, Dr. Benon Wanume, said.

He was responding to MPs’ queries about expired drugs that the Auditor General stumbled upon in the hospitals’ stores.

The same line of argument was advanced by Arua Referral Hospital boss Dr. Benard Odu in his explanation for the sh4.7m worth of expired drugs in his hospital stores.

However, both the inspector of drugs at NDA, David Nahamya and NMS spokesperson Dan Kimosho refuted the claims in phone interviews with New Vision on Wednesday.

“Even if it’s a donation, we don’t allow drugs whose shelf-life is below 75%. This is part of the new legal regime pertaining to importation of drugs in the country and it’s strictly observed,” Nahamya said.

“If a given drug is manufactured with a five-year shelf life, for example, it cannot be imported if it is remaining with less than three-and-a-half years to expiry date,” he added.

Kimosho said NMS is very sensitive about drugs expiry dates. He contended that over 99% of drugs in the country are procured using government funds, and the few donations are only accepted if the shelf-life is above 75%.

“It’s true NMS sometimes receives donated drugs on behalf of the Ministry of Health. What is the rationale of accepting donated drugs about to expire, and then spend huge sums on their disposal?” he queried.

The mandate of NMS is to ensure that the Ugandan population is efficiently provided with affordable good quality pharmaceuticals.

On the other hand, NDA is tasked with ensuring that the population accesses medicines that are of good quality, safe and efficacious.