Poor management blamed for bulk of drug stock outs

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has blamed manufacturers for shortages of medicines including HIV and tuberculosis drugs, but a civil society coalition has alleged 80%of stock outs are due to poor management.

Community members have also complained about medicine stock outs.
In the Stop the Stock Outs Project’s latest survey, more than 40 percent of health facilities reported having experienced a HIV, TB drug stock out: Joe Gqabi and Alfred Nzo districts, Eastern Cape; Bojanala District, North West; Nkangala and Gert Sibande districts, Mpumalanga; and Lejweleputswa and Fezile Dabi districts, Free State.
According to Motsoaledi, recent reports by Times Live and eNCA regarding alleged widespread drug shortages promoted the minister’s early return last week from the World Health Organisation’s on-going, annual World Health Assembly in Geneva.

At a Pretoria press conference yesterday, Motsoaledi widespread shortages of drugs including the country’s three-in-one antiretroviral (ARVs) fixed-dose combination (FDC).

“The FDC is our flagship programme and we do everything in our power to protect it,” Motsoaledi said in a statement. “To make sure that there are not problems in this very important programme, we even implemented the practice of a national buffer stock whereby 10 percent of all the FDCs we provide are strategically stockpiled with a service provider in a warehouse.”

Motsoaledi also added that the county source the combination ARV from three different suppliers to guard against supplier problems affecting supply.

“At no stage did we have a shortage of FDC in the country,” he added.

As of September 2015, about 119,000 patients had been started on the FDC.

One in five facilities have experienced stock outs

The department recently released a list of at least 40 medications  -(comment by Vicki Pinkney-Atkinson  many of these critical for the treatment of NCDs, morphine and mental health medication)– that were running short at provincial depots nationwide. The department attributed the bulk of shortages to supplier constrained and shortages of the pharmaceutical ingredients used to make the drugs.

Stock outs of medicines are indicative of a bigger problem related to the management and accountability in a health system”

Comprised of civil groups including Medicines Sans Frontières, the Treatment Action Campaign and the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, the Stop Stock Outs Project (SSP) collects stock out reports from health workers and clinics nationwide.

The group recently surveyed more than 2,500 of the country’s 3,732 health facilities. According to the research to be presented at the upcoming SA AIDS Conference, one in five facilities reported experiencing an ARV or TB medication stock out.

According to a SSP statement released yesterday, management or logistical challenges between medicine depots and clinics caused 80% of stock outs.

However, the group noted that patients were turned away without any medication in only 20 percent of cases.

“Supply of medicine to clinics and hospitals is the basic pillar to any public health system and stock outs of medicines are indicative of a bigger problem related to the management and accountability in a health system,” said SSP’s Dr Karl Le Roux in the statement.

The findings show an improvement over the group’s previous survey in which about one in four facilities reported stock outs.

However, >40% of health facilities in seven districts reported at least one HIV and TB drug stock outs. These districts include the Eastern Cape’s Joe Gqabi and Alfred Nzo as well as the Free State’s Lejweleputswa and Fezile Dabi districts. – Health-e News

Do you know of a stock out?

Email the Department of Health

or Stop Stock Outs sms or What’s App 084.855.7867 or email
© 2015 Health-e. All Rights Reserved.

South African Health Promotion Policy & Strategy 2015-19

Click here to download the SA Health Promotion Policy & Strategy 2015-19 (HPP&S 15-19)screencapture-file-C-Users-Vix-Desktop-pdf-20new-doh-20promotion-20policy-20and-20strategy-20national-20health-20promotion-20strategy-202015-2019-pdf-1440616259975
46 pages. Date of publication:  unknown

Purposes

1.To enable South African to increase control over and improve its own health using the PHC approach, which is multidisciplinary in nature;
2.To provide guidelines to support actions at appropriate levels that will advance the aims and objectives of the health promotion policy;
3.To promote a holistic approach to health by:

  • Focus on the link between health promotion and the determinants of health
  •  Emphasise inter-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approaches in planning, implementing and evaluating health promotion interventions;
  • Outline health promotion activities in various settings; and
  • Specifying strategic indicators to be monitored

 

Target audiences

The HPP&S 15-19 identifies key target audiences across the life cycle for health promotion interventions (→ focus on)

  • Children < 5 years →  promoting better health;
  • Women of child bearing age → creating awareness on services available;
  • Men → promoting a change in gender norms and values by encouraging broader involvement in health issues;
  • Youth → addressing risky behaviour and promoting healthy lifestyle practices;
  • Older people → community-based programmes and support groups to promote regular health and self-management of NCDs;
  • Marginalised populations → specific health needs.

 

Snippets

12.2 Financial Resources (page 26)

The successful implementation of the health promotion programme requires sustained and dedicated financial resources. The allocation of resources should be based on the principles of redress and equity. The current financial resources limits the implementation of health promotion strategies that are known to increase awareness on critical health issues and impact upon on social and behavioural changes that promote health and well being.

Civil society role – key partners (page 29-30)

  • Developing and promoting frameworks for health promotion interventions
  • Strengthening partnerships with community structures and civil society  for health campaigns
  • Supporting PHC Ward-Based Outreach Teams to implement health promotion programmes with activities to develop:
      -a package of  service delivery of health promotion services
    -tools to assess and promote community mobilisation.
  • Improving health literacy.

CANSA CEO Wins Big

Elize-Joubert-Award

Elize Joubert CEO of CANSA has won big in the 2015 Africa’s Most Influential Women (MIW) in Business & Government Awards in the category ‘Welfare and Civil Society Organisations’. Taking home not one but two awards for ‘Country Winner for South Africa’ and winner for ‘SADC South Region’ for the category ‘Welfare and Civil Society Organisations’.

On asking Elize what the award meant to her she stated. “I’m highly honoured to receive this recognition and pledge my on-going commitment to health and social issues for the good of our communities.  My reward is indeed the development of the communities themselves through the help and support of organisations like CANSA.”

It is hoped this award will reinforce the trust in CANSA and the brand it has created fighting against and for the control of cancer in South Africa.

What is next for CANSA?

The on-going fight of the disease in the light of the increasing frequencies of cancer in South Africa. As well as maintaining a sustainable organisation and meeting implementation goals of their mission in the current economic environment.