Medicines tracking welcome – experts
By Ludia Ngwadzai
THE Medical for Quality Healthcare in Zambia (MQHZ) says enforcement of a strict national medicines track-and-trace system will help curb the theft, diversion and illegal sale of medicines intended for public health facilities.
Director general Quince Mwabu said in an interview the initiative was a step towards protecting public resources and ensuring patients had access to essential medicines.
Dr Mwabu said government medicines were procured to save lives and should not be diverted for personal gain.
“It is unacceptable for patients to be denied access to essential medicines at public health facilities while those same medicines are allegedly being sold through unauthorised channels,” he said.
Dr Mwabu said the introduction of security labels and unique serial numbers to track medicines throughout the supply chain would only be effective if it exposed those responsible for the theft.
He urged the Ministry of Health, the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) and law enforcement agencies to ensure the system was fully implemented and supported by effective enforcement.
“Those found stealing, diverting or illegally selling government medicines must be held accountable in accordance with the law,” he said.
Dr Mwabu warned that tracking medicines alone would not resolve the problem if weaknesses in stock management, medicine audits and supervision at public health facilities remained unaddressed.
“The relevant authorities must strengthen these controls and close the loopholes that allow medicines to disappear from the public supply chain,” Dr Mwabu said.
He urged health workers, pharmacists and members of the public to play a major role in stopping pilferage of medicines.
Dr Mwabu said there was also the need for sensitization on how the system operates, how medicine labels could be verified and where suspected theft or illegal sales should be reported.
He said reporting channels should be accessible and complaints investigated promptly and fairly.
“A tracking system without effective enforcement and accountability risks becoming an administrative exercise rather than a meaningful safeguard for patients,” he said.
Dr Mwabu said government should also establish mechanisms to assess whether the system was reducing medicine theft and diversion, improving the availability of essential medicines and ensuring those responsible for wrongdoing faced appropriate action.
“The real test of this initiative will be at public health facilities. Patients must not continue to be turned away because essential medicines are unavailable when public funds have already been committed to procuring them,” he said.
Dr Mwabu said protecting the integrity of the medicines supply chain was essential to safeguarding public resources, patient safety and access to quality healthcare.
