Shortage of medication…Lack of communication a bogus excuse – Dr. Norton

Mar 14, 2014 News

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Shadow Minister of Health, Dr. George Norton believes that the real reason behind the shortage of pharmaceuticals in the country lies with its sourcing.
He is of the opinion that the excuse of lack of communication between regional health services and the Ministry of Health’s storage bond at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, is one that is bogus.
“It can’t be that, let’s face it. We have drugs going around with short shelf lives, then we suddenly end up with an abundance of expired medications that can’t be used, and the Ministry then has to ration what they have, so that there is the underlying problem,” Dr. Norton asserted in an invited comment on Wednesday.

“This has to stop. The Ministry of Health needs to stop playing around with people’s lives, and create a level playing field for pharmaceutical suppliers, so that people don’t have to die like this.”
Norton was at the time reflecting particularly on the death of a six-year-old boy at the Leonora Cottage Hospital due to the lack of oxygen at the facility.
The child, Henesh Ramlakhan, was suffering from a heart condition, and according to his mother, Vidya Persaud, all he needed was a supply of oxygen, and “he would ah been good to go.”
Instead, the child was pronounced dead at the hospital, about 30 minutes before the arrival of an ambulance from the West Demerara Regional Hospital.
Persaud told this newspaper that she did not want to risk taking her son to as far as Georgetown, and therefore opted to rush the child to the nearest health facility so that he can get a quick supply of oxygen, which she suspected that he needed.
“…Like I couldn’t even believe it. Dah really shocked me,” the irate mother said.
In addition to not having in store the basic supply of oxygen, the facility at Leonora has also been short of other essential drugs. But this is not the only location that has been experiencing such shortages.
Over the past months, there have been continuous reports of health centres and hospitals across the country, which have been operating without an adequate supply of medication.
These include saline, strips to aid the testing of diabetes and eye drops among others.
Just recently, Indra Chandarpal, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Social Services told this newspaper that the shortage is as a result of poor communication between Regional Health Authorities and the Ministry of Health’s bond at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
Chandarpal explained that the health centres on the West Demerara would have to send their request to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, which would in turn request the drugs from the national bond.
She noted too that the shortage of medical supplies at health facilities should not be a regular feature, since the Regional budgets cater for health services.
Meanwhile, this newspaper was told by Region Three Councillors that during a recent statutory meeting, the Regional Health Officer, Nadia Coleman, declared that she was no longer prepared to deal with the region’s health struggles, since the shortage of drugs cannot be pinned on her. It was explained too that it is not the case where communication between regional authorities and Ministry is bad.
According to at least two of the councillors, Coleman explained to them that whenever she requests four or five oxygen cylinders, the region would receive two or three.
“I was made to understand that they does be telling her that the supplies are wasting, so they only providing what they thing would be used, so that’s the situation,” Alliance For Change (AFC) Councillor, Harry Deokinanan said.
He claims that when the region’s administration receives the short stock of oxygen, Coleman is forced to make the call as to which one of the hospitals and health centres should benefit from the supply.
Meanwhile, in addition to the inadequate supply of drugs, there is also a possibility that the existing supply of medications is expired.
According to Alliance for Change Councillor, and member of the Region Three Health Committee, Dr. Kamal Narine, whenever health centres and hospitals request drugs from the storage bond at the West Demerara Regional Hospital, protocols are often not followed, and instead of being lodged at the bond of the requesting hospital for inspection, the medications are sent directly to the individual departments.
“This is a mad, mad situation. In situations like this, you even got people being treated with wrong doses. Then there is no proper audit of the drugs, so I am sure that many are expired,” Dr. Narine said during a recent interview.
Because he is a member of the region’s health committee, who has insights on the health issues facing the district, he does not utilize the services offered.
“It’s frightening. I would prefer to go to a private institution,” Dr. Narine declared.
In January, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud had said that shortage of essential medicines can be as a result of many scenarios. These include the situation where supplier(s) fail to comply with the recommended delivery schedules.
Dr. Persaud had acknowledged also, the relatively short shelf life of the medication, noting that caution remains in the procurement process of the drugs.
In light of the many challenges facing the health sector, APNU’s George Norton also made the call for Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, to resign.
“It goes without saying, he should just do the honourable thing and leave,” Dr. Norton said.
His call was seconded by AFC Councillor, Dr. Narine.
“We have the Minister doing nothing. Before, we used to have problems, yes, but this new Minister…I don’t know what he’s doing,” Dr. Narine said.

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