NMS SEEKS BIGGER STORAGE FACILITIES AS DEMAND FOR MEDICINES RISES
Members of Parliament’s Health Committee during the visit to the NMS facilities in Kajjansi
NILE POST
National Medical Stores (NMS) has asked government to support the expansion of its storage facilities to enable the agency to handle growing demand for essential medicines.
NMS Managing Director Moses Kamabare said the agency’s current storage capacity is becoming inadequate as the quantities of medicines required by health facilities across the country continue to increase.
Kamabare made the remarks when members of Parliament’s Health Committee visited the NMS facilities in Kajjansi to assess the agency’s operations and inspect how government medicines are stored and distributed.
The legislators were taken through the different sections of the facility where medicines are received, stored and prepared for distribution to health facilities.
They also toured the warehouses and refrigeration facilities used to preserve medicines that require controlled temperatures.
Kamabare said NMS was doing everything possible to ensure Ugandans access essential medicines free of charge, but increasing demand required additional storage space.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure that Ugandans receive essential medicines free of charge. However, the demand is very high, and we need to expand our storage capacity,” Kamabare said.
He said NMS currently operates on about 10 acres of land, which is increasingly becoming inadequate because of the growing demand for medicines.
The agency also highlighted several challenges affecting the availability and distribution of medicines, including the alleged diversion and sale of government medicines that are supplied free of charge to public health facilities.
NMS cited poor quantification of medicine needs, irrational prescribing, and prescriptions outside standard clinical guidelines and polypharmacy as other factors that can contribute to artificial shortages.
The agency also stressed the need to strengthen preventive healthcare, noting that a significant proportion of diseases in Uganda are preventable.
The Parliamentary Health Committee, led by its chairperson, Dr Julius Rude Monday, commended NMS for ensuring that medicines reach health facilities and communities across the country.
Rude Monday said the committee appreciated the agency’s role in addressing medicine shortages and improving distribution.
“We appreciate the work being done by National Medical Stores, especially in ensuring that medicines reach the people at the grassroots and in addressing shortages that have affected some health facilities,” Rude Monday said.
The committee pledged to support NMS in seeking additional government assistance based on the agency’s identified needs, particularly the proposed expansion of its medicine storage facilities.
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