Tanzania: Heads to Roll At the Health Ministry As Report Reveals Loss of Sh27billion in Drug Scam

Dar es Salaam — Heads will be rolling at the Health ministry as a probe committee has revealed that the government has lost up to Sh26.7 billion through unscrupulous deals in procurement and distribution of medicines and medical equipment.

The revelations, which were made public in Dar es Salaam yesterday, stem from the findings of a committee which was formed on February 1 with the mandate of investigating complaints regarding lack of medicines and medical equipment in government hospitals.

The committee has thus recommended that there be change on the management teams of those involved in the process and that a thorough investigation be conducted to identify those responsible for the losses.

The committee was established with the aim of finding out responses to complains that hospitals were lacking medicine and medical equipment despite the governing raising its procurement budget [for medicines and medical equipment] from Sh31 billion during the FY-2015/16 to Sh270 billion presently.

The committee found out that some equipment did not reach the intended health facilities while some medicines were being bought without approval from the drugs committee and as a result, some end up getting expired.

It (the committee) also found out that many hospitals lacked statistics on the number of patients who receive treatment under government’s exemption policy.

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