THE Supplies Chain Management Complex of the Ministry of Health at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, is well stocked with three months worth of critical drugs and medical supplies for the regional health facilities.

Following reports of shortages of critical supplies including gauze, syringes and cotton wool at health facilities, on Friday, April 13, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence and an advisory team visited the complex to ensure that supplies are available and can be readily dispatched to the regions.

“The critical drugs that we are hearing are not being made available at the various health facilities, we have been able to see that many or almost all of them are here. Now we are working on the dispatch,” she said.

The minister noted that one of the factors contributing to the shortage of drugs and medical supplies in some regions is the inefficiency of the necessary regional personnel to uplift requested supplies from the bond in a timely manner.

The minister, who recently began meeting with regional health officers (RHO) and other regional administration officials to address this issue, said during the visit she took particular efforts to observe “whether the regions are adhering to the call to uplift these drugs, which is a three-month supply of medical supplies and to ensure that when they are coming, [they are coming] with adequate transportation.”

The minister cited an instance to underscore her point.

“We have just had a good example of Linden: they came, but they only came with one canter, which means that canter will not be able to take the number of supplies that we have here,” Minister Lawrence stated.

Additionally, the minister took the very opportunity to be apprised of the process of stocking and distributing drugs and medical supplies.