In a statement released on Friday, the union however welcomed efforts to address the shortages but maintained that the problem remains unresolved. “While we welcome all efforts aimed at restoring the availability of medicines, the Union wishes to remind government and the nation that the current crisis did not emerge overnight, nor will it be resolved through announcements alone,” the BDU stated. “The true measure of success will be when every patient who presents at any public health facility can consistently access the medicines prescribed to them without delay, interruption, or unnecessary financial burden,” the statement added.
The BDU noted that healthcare workers have for years raised concerns about medicine shortages, procurement challenges, supply chain inefficiencies and stock management failures. The organisation bemoaned that many healthcare workers were unfairly blamed during the crisis, with some accused of withholding medicines from patients. “These claims not only undermined public confidence in healthcare professionals but also diverted attention from the systemic challenges that were at the heart of the crisis,” the union said. BDU stated that recent developments have vindicated frontline healthcare workers who consistently argued that medicine shortages were the result of broader systemic failures rather than actions by individual medical staff.
