Stock hospitals with medicines, PM directs

KATAVI: PRIME Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba has directed government authorities to ensure public hospitals and health centres are stocked with essential medicines, aiming to end the growing trend where patients are referred to private pharmacies to purchase drugs.

Speaking yesterday to residents of Nsimbo District in Katavi Region, Dr Nchemba said that despite sufficient government supplies, some health facilities still instruct patients to purchase medicines elsewhere.

“A tendency has emerged where funds for medicines are allocated to hospitals and health centres, yet patients are sent to buy them in pharmacies. This practice is unacceptable,” he said.

“Where does a pharmacy obtain medicine that the government cannot provide?” He ordered the Katavi Regional Commander of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) to investigate how funds and medicines are being managed and distributed in the region.

Dr Nchemba said that while the government has built 119 district hospitals, 2,800 dispensaries and 649 health centres over the past four years under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, priority must now shift to ensuring adequate supplies of essential medicines to ease citizens’ access to care.

In a related warning, the Prime Minister condemned leaders illegally selling village land, which has sparked disputes between farmers and pastoralists.

ALSO READ: Minister hails strategic leadership training for cementing public-private ties

He stressed that the government will hold accountable any officials manipulating land allocation. Dr Nchemba also urged contractors who have received payments for government projects to settle dues promptly with subcontractors and workers who completed the work.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Mr David Silinde, said the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have begun implementing the Prime Minister’s directive to standardise the sale of farm produce.

The directive aims to eliminate the traditional practice of selling crops in sacks or buckets, which often shortchanges farmers due to inaccurate measurements.

The ministries are finalising procedures, including specifying sacks that accurately hold up to 100 kilogrammes of produce. Mr Silinde said the directive, part of Dr Nchemba’s ongoing regional visits, will modernise crop trade by ensuring fair and standardised measurements across the country.