THE Medical Stores Department (MSD) has outlined a number of strategies to ensure reliable supply of sufficient health products to health facilities in 2023/24 financial year after the government allocated 205bn/- for the mission.
Moreover, for affordable prices and timely delivery of the health products countrywide, MSD has initiated discussion with a number of local and foreign investors, to set up the medical appliances and pharmaceutical factories in the country, Acting Director of MSD, Mr Hassan Ally Ibrahim affirmed.
“We are working in collaboration with our embassies in China, Algeria, South Korea and Russia among other areas, to identify the manufacturers of health products and prospective investors for direct purchase of quality, reliable and affordable prices,” he said.
Speaking to reporters here yesterday on the department’s strategies, Mr Ibrahim, who is also MSD Manager for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation said in 2023/24 financial year, they will undertake construction of three state- of- the-art medical stores in Dodoma, Mtwara and Kagera for safe preservation and stock of the health products.
He said the much awaited Idofi Factory in Makambako in Njombe Region will start production of gloves next month and will see the government saving 33bn/- it annually spends to import the products.
He said the construction of the factory would be important in enabling MSD to meet 83.4 per cent of the demand for gloves in the country.
Mr Ibrahim further elaborated that the factory will offer 200-direct employment and produce 84.6 million pairs of gloves annually, thus stimulating rubber farming.
MSD will also increase production capacity of the disposable masks to 10.8 million both surgical and N95 a year in the country to serve health facilities, mining and in industries.
In the 2022/23 financial year, MSD distributed the health products to 7,662 health facilities countrywide from its zones in Dodoma, Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, Mwanza, Tabora, Kilimanjaro, Tanga, Kagera, Mbeya and Iringa.
As of June 2023, MSD signed 238 framework agreements of 2004 health products for assured availability and reliability of the items.
Mr Ibrahim said MSD pays special tribute to the sixth phase government, because since its establishment 30-years ago, it was for the first time in 2022/23 fiscal year, when the government dished 157.56bn/- to them to purchase the health products.
