By Najibu Mulema
National Medical Store (NMS) has confirmed that it has ran out of Anti- malaria drugs.
NMS is the a government body responsible for supplying medical drugs to all public health centres in the country.
According to NMS spokesperson, Dan Kimosho, the NMS stores remained empty after the previous supply cycle in December last year due to drugs’ budget shortfalls.
Kimosho said although the budget for malaria drugs is supposed to be shs45 billion for this financial year government has only given NMS shs5 billion.
He adds that coartem drug which is used in the first lime treatment of malaria is the one which is out of stock.
Although some public health centres like Mulago hospital are not yet affected by the shortage, if government doesn’t come out for rescue, they will all be affected in a short run.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that malaria is still the leading cause of death in Uganda, accounting for over 27% of deaths.
The statistics also show that Uganda has the world’s highest malaria incidence, with a rate of 478 cases per 1,000 population per year.
Uganda ranks as 6th among African countries with high malaria-related mortality rates.
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