Shortage of medicine taking a toll on people

SOMEBODY has to cop the blame for the shortage of medicine in the country.
Whoever he or she is should admit to the people that the situation today would not have come about if they had resolved the matter quickly before it developed into a crisis situation.
It is totally unacceptable.
Today the whole health system and, most importantly, the taxpayers who pay the officials’ salaries, are paying the price.
They have to buy their own medicine.
Those in the system know that procuring medicines can take up to six months just to get them into the country, plus another month to send them from Port Moresby to other provinces.
The drug shortage can adversely affect drug therapy, compromise or delay medical procedure resulting in medication errors.
The health secretary himself has always said that the process for ordering and supplying a minimum set of medical supplies across this country was very complex. It is always common knowledge that combatting vaccine preventable diseases remains a major challenge in PNG because of inaccessibility, weak infrastructure and cold chain systems, funding, poverty and social inequities that all contribute to low immunisation coverage.
We guess the next best option is for the general public to look after ourselves, do not fight, or drink and drive, and always wash your hands and to ensure that our children are in a clean and safe environment.
This may sound trivial but this is reality as some hospitals are reporting a shortage of medicine while others have completely run out of stock.
Doctors use medicine to save lives and cure diseases and sicknesses. Without medicine and funding, one cannot expect doctors to help patients.
One way of helping ourselves is to start saving money in case we need to buy medicines from pharmacies or private hospitals.
The sad reality is that not everyone can afford to buy medicines from pharmacies or private hospitals.
Let alone in rural areas, where there are no pharmacies or private hospitals.
The rural population of PNG want access to evidenced-based medicine and they care not who provides it, as long as it is up to date, timely and has positive outcomes.
Many of the challenges in healthcare provision are linked to obstacles in other sectors,
such as transport, infrastructure, manufacturing, education and security.
And one cannot tell our rural medical officers to manage their stock level to last for an intended period as no one knows when an outbreak can strike. The whip must be cracked now, otherwise this whole laid-back attitude among some senior officials will continue.
Health Secretary Pascoe Kase has always maintained that the department was working on improvements in the overall procurement system.
The process of improving the manner in which much-needed medical supplies are delivered to the right place at the right time must continue and hopefully be a workable one in the near future.
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure something like that out.
Planning and effective management, as most senior officials are aware of, are important.