Delay in TB drug delivery irks patients

Barati Mathambo
Correspondent | Friday March 29, 2013 00:00

One of the affected patients, who could not reveal his names, called Mmegi complaining that since January he has been hitting the dead-end because there were no TB drugs at the clinic.

The caller said that for weeks he would go to the clinic where he would be told that there were no TB drugs or those available had long expired. Furthermore he said that nurses would often give them an ultimatum to either take the expired drugs so that they did not miss treatment or go to neighbouring clinics in Tonota, about 30km away. He lamented that when he took a taxi to Tonota Clinic he also hit a hard rock because they too did not have the TB drugs in stock.

He mentioned that this affects his health as he has nowhere else to get treatment and having to wander from one clinic to the other is costly. A nurse, who did not wish to be identified at Tati-siding clinic, confirmed that they have been faced with shortages of drugs for TB patients, especially for those who are on the first treatment due to delays in distribution.She alleged that there are also drugs that have expired and that this has caused anger and frustration among patients who could not received prescribed medication.

She told the publication that they had to outsource some from as far as Masunga Primary Hospital but the drugs were not enough and so they had to tell the patients to try other clinics. Furthermore she said that she was not sure when they would receive the drugs.

Tati-Siding Matron, who only gave her name as Mashumba, denied the allegations that they have expired TB drugs on their shelves.

She also denied giving patients an ultimatum to take the expired drugs or find fresh ones from elsewhere. 'We have no expired TB drugs and we have also not experienced such cases. Yes, we have had a shortage of drugs but it was only for a few days,' she said.

She said the shortage was because of a delay in the delivery of the TB drug to their clinic. Ministry of Health's (MoH) Chief Public Relations Officer Doreen Motshegwa confirmed that they had experienced some delay in the distribution of TB drugs, including a drug known as 4FCB, to various health care facilities.

She said that, 'This is due to technical challenges in the supply chain at Central Medical Stores (CMS) for the past few weeks,' adding that IT officers have been working around the clock to rectify the situation.

'The technical challenge in the system started on March 1. Nevertheless, the administration of drugs to districts has to be done manually till things normalise and this may cause further delays,' she said.

However, she said the interruption in supply to specific clinics mighty be due to the technical challenges encountered at CMS.

'But frankly we have not received reports of patients going without treatment despite the challenges our Central Medical Stores may be facing.'  In the past, Botswana used to use loose formulations of TB medicines, still available in most facilities. 'With the introduction of fixed dose combinations (many drugs in one tablet), more convenient to the patient, the need for loose formulations has waned, though they are still used in the event of interruptions in supply of fixed dose combinations, as is the case in the current scenario,' she said. Motshegwa further said that the ministry is not aware of any expired TB drugs and it should however be noted that once in a while drugs do expire on the shelf and these get disposed off accordingly (in a clinical manner). 

She stated that Pharmacy focal officers remain vigilant to move around stock between different facilities to ensure that all patients in need of treatment are assisted, and that no drugs expire.

'CMS has a monthly delivery schedule used by all districts for drug supply requirements. 'Dates as to when consignments are delivered are agreed between CMS management and District Health Management Teams (DHMTs),' she said.