By Lwazi Dlamini
The Ministry of Health implemented the ‘Nkwe’ policy on Thursday to avert a severe drug shortage crisis at the Mbabane Government Hospital.
After the widely reported halted dialysis and theatre services, which led to Members of Parliament urging the government to bring a loan Bill to address the entire health crisis and declaring the health crisis a disaster,
the Ministry received 15,000 boxes with 3,000 units on Thursday with the Minister of Health Mduduzi Matsebula actively participating in the delivery of the stock himself.
The quick response follows legislators’ calls that all funds should be diverted to address the crisis in the health system.
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The MPs on Wednesday in Parliament noted that despite the E3 billion budget allocated to the Ministry of Health, there were still financial gaps that have to be filled by the budget, dating back to 10 years ago.
Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo said there have been several loans that the government has negotiated and approved by Parliament.
The firebrand MP said the entire health system needs a revamp, and a loan could address the challenges.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health was a recipient of 15,000 boxes with 3,000 units of smart bags for renal patients at the Mbabane Government Hospital.
Minister of Health Mduduzi Matsebula addressing members of the media after the delivery of the drugs, said the delivered stock will last for a month.
“The Ministry is delighted to say after the disruption of health services at Mbabane Government, which forced us to try and get assistance from some hospitals like Hlathikhulu,
we were able to get our suppliers to deliver a stock that will last for over a month and also stock that will ensure we will not have the same situation again,” the Minister said.
The Minister said on the issue of the CT scan, his ministry has made arrangements with Phalala Fund, seeing that it will take time to fix the broken machine, and the service has been restored and on Thursday, as many as 14 patients were able to get assistance.
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“On the theatre issue, we were lucky that some of the missing drugs were available at the Central Medical Stores. We apologize to emaSwati for the disruption of the health services.
We will continue to put more work to ensure the nation is satisfied with health services,” the Minister added.
The Minister took time to interact with patients at the Renal Dialysis Unit to assure them that services would continue to run smoothly.
