Medical drugs take ‘8 months’ to reach PNG

MEDICAL drugs and supplies take between eight and 10 months to reach Papua New Guinea from suppliers in India, China and Malaysia.
Health Department acting manager for medical supplies procurement and distribution Malcolm Sabak said upon arrival, the medicines and other medical supplies would then be dispatched to area medical stores in Lae, Mt Hagen, Kokopo and Badili in NCD.
Sabak was speaking in response to concerns raised by the Nogat Marasin Campaign group in Morobe over shortages of medicinal drugs and supplies in the province.
Nogat Marasin advocates had liaised and consulted with people in rural Morobe on the issue of medicine shortages, their accesses to health services and the impacts these were having on their lives.
The group’s initial findings also revealed that 164 health facilities in Morobe had been closed due to infrastructure issues, shortage of health workers and medical supplies.
These concerns were then presented to Health Minister Dr Lino Tom, department secretary Dr Osborne Liko and the Morobe Health Authority chief executive officer Dr Kipas Binga.
Sabak said the eight to 10 months’ wait was also affecting provincial and district medical stores, trickling down to all health centres, sub-health centres, clinics and aid posts.
“Distribution is also based on orders. All facilities must place their orders for supplies to be allocate to them,” he said, adding that the process of getting antibiotics and anti-malarials to the rural facilities could be quite complicated.