Due to the rampant theft that nearly paralyzed the Central Medical Stores (CMS), government has engaged expatriates who will revamp the department.
So far about six employees have been interdicted due to theft while police are still investigating the circumstances that led to the theft of countless drugs valued at millions of pula.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Tom Brown, the chief operating officer at CMS, said ‘the government has hired about six foreigners from overseas on a three-year contract”.
He said although theft cases are being reported, the most encouraging thing is the fact that CMS is able to detect those cases because of hi-tech equipment that have been installed.
He said since he came into office, together with five other expatriates, there has been some progress in service delivery of medicines throughout the country.
Brown said they sometime face problems from their main suppliers who, at times, don’t honour the contract, forcing them to abandon such suppliers and this, at times, affects the supply of drugs.
Doreen Motshegwa, the Chief Health Officer (Communications and Public Relations), explained that CMS was set up by government under the Ministry of Health to procure and supply medical drugs to government health institutions.
She said the organisation has been inundated with drug security and distribution issues, along with issues of drug expiries due to unsuccessful stock control measures.
“In a bid to improve service delivery and turn-around time, the Ministry, in 2009, with the technical aid of Supply Chain Management System (SCMS), brought in a team of 6 experts to develop and implement transformation strategy of the organisation,” she said.
She said security will be a top priority at CMS.
Sometime ago, the CMS was defrauded of about P21 million, causing a nation-wide drug shortage.
The case is still pending before the courts and only a few millions were recovered during the investigations.
