COVID-19 Vaccines, ARVs and Test Kits Worth UGX 316.65 B Destroyed After Expiration
NATIONAL: The Ministry of Health destroyed COVID-19 vaccines, ARVs & test kits worth UGX 316.65 Billion in 2023/24, which is an increase from drugs worth UGX 33 Billion destroyed in 2022/23.
The revelation was made by Edward Akol, Auditor General while handing over the 2023/24 annual Auditor General’s report to Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa.
“In the health sector, there are major challenges of expiration of medical supplies. The government had to write off UGX 316.65 Billion worth of COVID-19 vaccines, ARVs and test kits an increase from last year’s UGX 33 Billion. This represents a significant waste of resources that have served other pressing healthcare needs,” noted Akol.
He further called for an urgent intervention in addressing the human resource needs of Uganda’s health care sector revealing that Mulago National Referral Hospital’s ICU is operating only 15 beds out of 27 which is just 56% of its capacity due to staff shortages.
“Critical equipment remains un utilized in several hospitals because of the lack of trained personnel to run them. The health infrastructure department of the Ministry of Health requires UGX 20 Billion annually for equipment maintenance but receives only UGX 1.8 Billion.” added Akol.
The Auditor General also expressed concerns over the low absorption of funds in the national budget which he said is affecting service delivery noting that for the FY 2023/24, the initial budget was UGX 52.7 Trillion, it was later revised upwards to UGX 61.4 Trillion.
However, only UGX 54.3Trn was warranted leaving an unfunded gap of UGX 7.1Trillion even more concerning, of the warranted, only UGX 47 Trillion was spent, underutilization impacting service delivery across Government Corporations.
