Shortage of drugs, medical supplies affect Region 6 hospitals – Regional Chairman

All Government-run hospitals in Region Six are continuing to experience shortages in medical supplies and drugs on a regular basis, and this is as a result of poor management procedures.
This is according to Chairman of that Region, David Armogan, who during an interview with GuyanaTimes stated that while allocation of the necessary items is done centrally through the Materials Management Unit of the Public Health Ministry, many times his Region has to resort to its finances to purchase additional medical supplies and drugs.

“This issue is recurrent and is affecting all hospitals here. Every now and then you keep hearing about shortages everywhere. Whenever there is a scarcity, then the Region will have to buy when (stocks go) down to zero,” he said.
According to Armogan, the Regional Office has a limited amount of money that it can afford to spend on purchasing additional drugs and medical supplies for the various hospitals, and more often than not it cannot fill the void that is continuously being created.
“The Region just doesn’t have a lot of money to keep doing this. These things are supposed to be done centrally and then brought to the regions. There is no proper procedure in place, and the system is not properly monitored,” the Regional Chairman explained.
He lamented that many of the patients who seek treatment at these facilities are being turned away or sent to purchase the much needed medical drugs from private institutions. He said a number of them cannot afford to do this.
“Things like gauze and other supplies which are used frequently to dress wounds are short. Even basic drugs like for persons with diabetes, hypertension and such are limited or in small amounts frequently. These are things which you see many patients coming to get help with, since they are common health issues in Guyana,” Armogan further added.
He is of the belief that communication between the hospitals in Region Six and the MMU is poor, and until this situation is fixed, shortages will continue quite often.
In April last, the Director of Regional Health Services (DRHS) of Region Six, Jevaughn Stephens, blamed poor communication for critical medical supplies not being stocked in sufficient quantities. Stephens had explained that while there was a shortage of critical drugs and medical supplies, the situation could have been rectified with proper communication.