A lot of the sickness we saw on our last mission trip was due to malaria. Prior to our arrival we ran into dififculty getting enough Coartem for treatment due to the limited supply in the country. The following article is from the Ugandan newspapaer NEW VISION addresses the ongoing problem.
Friday, 20th February, 2009
The Ministry of Health has worked out emergency supplies of the frontline anti-malarial drug, Coartem, to end a shortage that hit Uganda after Global Fund money was withheld. The commissioner for health services planning, Dr. Francis Runumi, said the ministry had contracted Quality Chemicals, a Kampala-based pharmaceutical company, to produce Coartem. Previously, the drug was imported using Global Fund donations. However, following suspension of the Global Fund grants over accountability queries, Coartem ran out at the end of 2008. On Thursday, Runumi said following a presidential directive, the finance ministry had allocated sh60b for the drug and they were procuring Ugandan-made Coartem. “We are very proud to be self sustaining. We are making so much that we cannot even consume it all. The capacity is for the region,” said Runumi. He was speaking during a dialogue with British and Ugandan parliamentarians at Kabira Country Club. Runumi was responding to queries raised by Kinkizi West MP Chris Baryomunsi on the drug stock-outs countrywide. Baryomunsi expressed fear that lives could have been lost countrywide due to a Coartem shortage towards the end of 2008. “It’s just that we are not so technical to ascertain whether deaths have risen as a result, but it’s a very big problem. People are dying,” he noted.
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