By MAIMBO MWEEMBA
The Zambia Medical Association is disappointed by revelations that the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA) erroneously distributed drugs to two facilities that are under Quality Control.
The Association’s Secretary General Kaumba Tolopu said while the association knows that errors in the supply chain management of pharmaceutics are bound to occur, ZAMMSA should have been extra cautious in dispatching any medical products related to the same vendor.
Dr Tolopu said an effective early detection and intervention system is key to avoiding such occurrences especially in view of the health center kit saga which is in the public domain.
“ZAMMSA was negligent to error repeatedly and having to apologize twice to the public in less than a year over a brand that has many unanswered questions lingering with some aspects of the case currently active in court, it had to take whistleblowers in both instances to reveal the injustices,” he said.
Dr Tolopu He said such occurrences in the health sector are the reason his association has been left frustrated with the snail’s pace at which reforms at the Ministry of Health and its allied Statutory bodies are being implemented.
He said the frustrations also extend to the stagnation in the recruitment of the 11-thousand 2-hundred new healthcare workers announced in the 2022 national budget.
“Government should be reminded that the Zero error practice is part of the reason medical training is stringent as one fatal decision in the industry and continuum of care can cost many lives,” he said.
