No medicines in Port Moresby General Hospital

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No medicines in Port Moresby General Hospital

PORT MORESBY: Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) operations have been seriously affected because the Badili Area Medical Store (AMS) has run out of medical supplies, PMGH chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi says.

This follows a statement made by hospital obstetrics and gynaecology head Prof Glen Mola that “trying to do our jobs as doctors has become more and more challenging nowadays because of shortages of essential medicines, disposables and equipment”.

“It seems that there are more and more things that are not available daily,” he lamented.

The grave issue was reported by The National:

Drugs crisis

February 8, 2022The NationalMain Stories

Prof Glen Mola … No access to life-saving drugs at PMGH

By LULU MARK
THE nil stock of needed medical supplies at the Badili Area Medical Store (AMS) is seriously affecting the operations of the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH), chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi says.
This follows a statement made by the hospital’s head of obstetrics and gynaecology Prof Glen Mola that “trying to do our jobs as doctors has become more and more challenging nowadays because of shortages of essential medicines, disposables and equipment”.
“It seems that there are more and more things that are not available on a daily basis,” he said.
Mola said the hospital ran out of standard IV fluid, sterilising solution and on other days they were not able to do important blood tests because of lack of necessary laboratory reagents.
Mola said there was no access to life-saving drugs on a regular basis.
Molumi said only 13 per cent of January’s request was supplied by the AMS.

 Paki Molumi … PMGH buys 70pc of medical drugs at pharmacies

“We have yet to receive February’s request,” Molumi said.
“We are already in short supply of basic fast-running items and nil stock in most items.
“We have requested suppliers to supply critical life-saving drugs to keep service going.”
Dr Molumi said due to the ongoing chronic shortage of drugs and consumables at the Badili AMS, the demands of PMGH were not met.
“AMS only supplies one-third of catalogued drugs and consumables required by PMGH.

 Osborne Liko …
Health Dept mindful of supply issues at PMGH, Angau

“PMGH purchases 70 per cent of the shortfalls supposed to be provided by the National Department of Health through Badili AMS and also specialised drugs not on catalogue. Dr Molumi said some patients were told to purchase their own medication as PMGH only purchased supply for inpatients.
Health secretary Dr Osborne Liko told The National yesterday that he would validate the concerns with his team and put out mitigating strategies.
Liko earlier said there were issues with drug procurement and supply but the Health Department was managing, which included clearing a K90 million carry-over from 2019 till last year.
He said the Health Department was mindful of the drug supply issues with PMGH, Angau Hospital and all provincial health authorities and were waiting for the accounts to open so that medicines and consumables could be supplied to them on time.

Medical supplies out of stock: Doctor

February 8, 2022The NationalMain Stories

NEW Ireland’s health facilities including its main hospital desperately need essential drugs supplies, a senior medical officer says.
Provincial health authority acting chief executive officer Dr Joachim Taulo told The National: “All our health facilities have zero stock on supplies for over four months now and we need our operational funds to purchase new supplies.”
He said the area medical stores (AMS) in Kokopo had no stock and this was affecting provinces in the New Guinea Islands.
Dr Taulo said such basic drugs as pain-relief medicines, antibiotics, HIV-AIDS medication and anti-malarial medicines were not available.
“I sent my officer to Kokopo recently to purchase supplies from the AMS but the AMS was facing the same problem,” he said.
Dr Taulo said he had met with his chief medical officers and would be meeting with all clinical staff today to discuss where they would get the drugs needed to treat patients.
He said it was a major concern that the province had run low on almost all basic medical drugs at the start of a year with a lack of operational funds not allowing them to seek alternatives to address the issue.
He said the New Ireland Health Authority (NIPHA) was still awaiting its cash fund certificate (CFC) from the Finance and Treasury departments.
Dr Taulo said CFCs were separate funding that PHAs received directly from the Finance and Treasury departments for its operations.
He said the CFC was a fund that was calculated according to the population of a province and paid in monthly instalments to PHAs.
Dr Taulo added that with the CFC they would be able to purchase medical supplies from City Pharmacy to supply all health facilities in the province but he added that the recent cyber-attack on the Government’s financial system had also delayed the process.
He said a letter containing their concerns regarding the way in which the medical supplies for the province was handled would be sent to the Health Department this week.

Drug shortage needs urgent attention, says Kapavore

February 8, 2022The NationalMain Stories

THE issue of Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) and other health facilities running out of basic medical supplies is a grave concern that needs to be addressed quickly, shadow Minister for Health Elias Kapavore says.
He said this after PMGH chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi expressed concern about the lack of medicines and consumables on a daily basis that was affecting the operation of the hospital because the Badili Area Medical Store, under the Health Department, was not supplying what was needed by the hospital.
Responding to questions by The National on what was needed to be done to solve the chronic medical supply shortage in the country, Kapavore said it was not so much about funding but about getting priorities right.
“The procurement of medical supplies, storage and logistics are routine activities undertaken by the Health Department,” he said.
“There is no need to make changes to the existing systems but identify areas that needed capacity building and strengthening.
“The Government has made the decision to come up with new procurement process by no longer considering the companies in the country that have been part of this for some years.
“Companies engaged in the procurement must meet World Health Organisation standards on procurement, storage, packaging etc.
“At the department, capacity-building is needed at area medical stores, especially with manpower.”