Forex, debt worsen drug crisis

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation has described the shortage of medicines in public health facilities as a crisis, with foreign exchange shortages and accumulated debt to suppliers worsening the situation.

Meanwhile, in a bid to ensure medicines are available in hospitals, the ministry has turned to local pharmaceutical manufacturers to identify drugs they can produce and supply through the Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST).

Central Medical Stores Trust

Speaking in Blantyre yesterday when she toured Pharmanova and Crown Pharmaceuticals, Minister of Health and Sanitation Madalitso Baloyi said government is exploring all available avenues to restore medicine supplies while strengthening local production.

She said the ministry has started engaging local manufacturers to establish what medicines they have capacity to produce and how quickly they can be supplied to hospitals.

Baloyi said the move is also aimed at developing local pharmaceutical production as the country faces declining donor support and continued challenges in accessing foreign exchange.

“We have to admit. There are no drugs. It is a crisis and our coming was to see how we can strengthen local manufacturers for a sustainable future, considering the disappearance of donors,” she said.

The minister also assessed whether local manufacturers had medicines in stock that could be supplied to public health facilities immediately.

“If we said, we have money to pay for one million quantities of Panado and Aspirin today, would you be able to supply us? Because we want these drugs in our facilities today,” Baloyi asked the manufacturers.

The manufacturers said they had millions of units of several essential medicines in stock, but raised concerns over government’s delayed payments, foreign exchange shortages and other challenges affecting production.

They also urged government to support local pharmaceutical manufacturers beyond periods of crisis, saying sustained procurement under the Buy Malawi Campaign could help keep companies operating while reducing pressure on foreign exchange.

In an interview on the sidelines of the meeting, Pharmanova quality assurance manager Tawanda Musasa said delayed government payments were affecting local manufacturers and called for faster regulatory processes.

“We need consistent support and procurement so that these companies remain sustainable and are able to produce medicines when they are needed,” he said.

Musasa said manufacturers also faced challenges accessing foreign currency for imported raw materials, while power outages were affecting production.

He said the Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority (PMRA) also needed to speed up the review and approval of product dossiers to enable manufacturers to bring more products onto the market.

Currently, CMST owes international medicine suppliers more than $18 million (about K31 billion), which has forced some suppliers to reduce deliveries while others have stopped supplying the public health system.

Talking about the stock situation, CMST chief executive officer Moses Chisale said stocks at the trust were “not very good” and had been like that for some time.

He said CMST buys most of its supplies from outside the country, but has been unable to settle outstanding bills because of difficulties in accessing foreign exchange.

“Because of that, the suppliers either have stopped supplying us or have drastically reduced their deliveries,” Chisale said.

He said CMST has funds in local currency, but needs dollars to pay international suppliers, adding that the trust is negotiating with suppliers to resume deliveries as government works with commercial banks and Treasury to secure forex.

Chisale said the trust was also increasing procurement from local manufacturers as part of efforts to address the shortages.

According to Chisale, CMST currently buys between 40 and 46 locally produced medicines, with additional procurement processes under way.

At the beginning of the financial year, CMST owed local suppliers about K14 billion, but Chisale said more than half of the debt has since been cleared.

He said contracts already awarded to local suppliers were worth about K10 billion, although he could not immediately provide the exact figure.

The latest tender covers more than 180 products and is expected to increase local procurement once evaluation and awards are completed.

Baloyi said government wants to use the current crisis to build a more sustainable local pharmaceutical industry, particularly as donor support declines.

She said the immediate priority was to get medicines into hospitals while ensuring local manufacturers can produce consistently.

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