MSD doubles revenue amid sweeping reforms
DODOMA: THE Medical Stores Department (MSD) has continued to register significant growth in capacity, operations and performance following four years of reforms and restructuring.
Chief Government Spokesperson and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Mr Gerson Msigwa told reporters yesterday in Dodoma that the ongoing reforms, coupled with substantial government investment in health facilities and increased sales of distributed products, have pushed MSD’s revenue from 315.1bn/- in the 2021/22 financial year to 640bn/- in 2024/25, an increase of 325bn/- or 103.1 per cent.
He said MSD has strengthened the supply of medical requirements to the health facilities, with order fulfilment reaching 79 per cent by June 2025, up from 39 per cent in 2021/22.
“This improvement is due to the availability of funds for purchasing medical supplies and the continued empowerment of health facilities to procure them,” he said.
Mr Msigwa noted that the government, through MSD, has also increased the value of health products purchased from local manufacturers.
In 2021/22, goods worth 15.9bn/- were procured locally, rising sharply to 98.72bn/- in 2024/25.
He said buying locallyproduced health commodities not only ensures national health security during disease outbreaks or disasters but also creates jobs and saves foreign exchange reserves.
According to Mr Msigwa, in the last four years the government, through the Ministry of Health, has disbursed 642.1bn/- to MSD for purchasing medical supplies for health facilities across the country. In 2024/25 alone, 196.3bn/- was released out of the 200bn/- budgeted, representing 98 per cent the highest disbursement since MSD’s establishment.
He added that MSD’s collections have reached historic levels due to improved availability of medical products in its warehouses with purchasing power of clients increasing as a result of government investments and stronger relations with customers. In 2024/25, MSD collected 184.2bn/-, with total collections from July 2021 to June 2025 amounting to 397.6bn/-.
Mr Msigwa further said MSD has ensured the availability of Msonge Project commodities covering HIV/ AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and leprosy which are provided free of charge.
The implementation of the Global Fund’s sixth cycle (GC6) improved from 18 per cent in 2022 to 97 per cent by December 2024, the final year of the cycle.
In the past four years, MSD has also procured and distributed essential medical equipment to facilities from primary to specialised referral levels, including anaesthesia machines, CT scanners, 3T MRI machines, ultrasound machines and digital X-ray units, valued at 429.2bn/-.
Medical Stores Department (MSD) Director General, Mr Mavere Tukai said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is making good progress in operationalising and transforming regional healthcare procurement through the SADC Pooled Procurement Services (SPPS), in line with President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s directive to reform the institution.
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He said one of the key areas emphasised by the Head of State was strengthening regional joint procurement systems, including harmonising drug registration across member states instead of separate country-by-country registration.
