By:Hertha Ekandjo
Medicines and other clinics supplies worth about N$20 million kept at the Rundu Medical Store, are at a high risk of spoiling as the hospital struggles to repair the cooling system in the facility which stopped working about two years ago.
This was stated by the National Council Standing Committee on Health who are currently visiting different medical sites in the Kavango East and West regions.
Officials in charge of the troubled Rundu Medical Store told the Health Standing Committee that it would cost the government slightly above N$500,000 to fix the dysfunctional air conditioners.
During the engagements with the staff at the medical store, Dr. Nelson Olabanji, the Chief Regional Pharmacist at Division: Pharmaceutical Services, told the parliamentarians that their request for funds to fix the cooling system was rejected by the Ministry of Health and Social Services.
Olabanji said their request for funds was seemingly deemed as a non-urgent matter, and not an emergency.
As a result, he said they had “to dispose of some medicines which melted due to the unregulated temperature in the store”.
Moreover, he stated that they keep some of the medicine in the store`s corridor because of lack of space in the warehouse where the medicine is supposed to be stored.
The Chief Regional Pharmacist said some of the medicines, including medical creams, have melted and rotted.
“The total number of air conditioners needing repair are 13, and need new features as the old are totally worned out,” he expounded.
The standing Committee has observed apart from that, the facility in general appears to be untidy with a dusty floor which risks contaminating the medical supplies.
The Rundu Medical Store is one of three government owned medical stores in the country. It supplies medicines to all hospitals and clinics in Kavango East and West regions.
Doctors in the region revealed that the only referral hospital in the Kavango East region is in Rundu and only gets about 58% of the medical supplies they order from the Central Medical Store, a situation they said is concerning and hampers the delivery of healthcare services.
In response, the Health Ministry said the cooling and air conditioning system at the facility has experienced some technical challenges.
“In order to address the problem, the Ministry of Works and Transport conducted a comprehensive assessment in 2022 and provided the Ministry of Health and Social Services with a detailed bill of quantity, including specifications for the required repairs,” said the ministry’s executive director, Ben Nangombe.
Moreover, he said the ministry has determined the estimated cost for the necessary repairs and upgrades.
A contractor will be brought to site on an emergency basis to fix the problem, he said.
