Cosmo Mumba experiences drugs shortage at UTH

By NATION REPORTER

EW Revolution Party (NRP) president Cosmo Mumba has bemoaned the lack of medicines at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and other health facilities countrywide.

Dr Mumba who was hospitalised for 10 days at UTH said the hospital did not have drugs and that this had escalated the number of deaths in the country because drugs were not readily available.

He said that despite many complaints government was still adamant about the matter and that the drug shortages had continued to loom.

“I have been discharged from UTH were I was admitted for 10 days but what I can tell you is that there are no medicines in hospitals,” he said.

Dr Mumba said that the hospital was just giving prescriptions and that those that were under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIMA) were forced to buy medicines across the hospital.

He said that there was need for government to decentralise NHIMA because the process was very cumbersome.

Dr Mumba said the government needed to swiftly act on the issue of medicines which had persisted for some time now. He said pharmacies were more empowered than hospitals because they were taking advantage of the NHIMA Scheme. Dr Mumba said three quarters of Zambians were not registered with NHIMA and that it was a challenge because they could not access medicines