The Guyana government has made provisions in budget 2024 for the procurement of crucial software that will help monitor stock levels of drugs and medical supplies at the Material Managment Unit (MMU) – a body that handles the housing of the country’s pharmaceuticals.
Making the announcement today was Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony during the consideration of Budget 2024 estimates at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
Allocation for the procurement of the programme is part of a $1 billion earmarked amount, which will also, among other things, fund the development of the ministry’s electronic medical health records system, brokerage and transports, waste disposal services, and stipends for the Institutional Review Board. The sum of $1 million will also be spent on budget books and another $1 million for binding of reports.
The minister underscored the importance of implementing a new software, noting that the existing programme is over two decades old.
“A software called MAX was procured some 25 years ago, which was implemented at the MMU, however, the programme has become outdated. Although we have been trying from time to time to get updates for that software, we believe that it is time now to change the software,” he said.
Opposition Member of Parliament and Dr Anthony’s predecessor, Dr Karen Cummings, posed the question of whether the software would allow the minister and his staff to monitor stock levels from the comfort of their offices. However, the Minister did not provide an answer to this question.
He did note that the ministry was able to benefit from the expertise of a consultant from USAID, who spent the last year with the ministry examining the system and helping to determine what type would be sufficient.
The management of the country’s drugs and medical supplies came under intense scrutiny back in March 2021, when Dr Anthony revealed that billions of dollars in expired medicines and medical supplies were at the MMU.
During a press conference, the Minister disclosed that close to $1B of expired medicines had to be dumped between August and September 2020, laying the blame square at the feet of the former A Partnership for National Unit + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government.
More than 300 truckloads of expired medicine had to be disposed of during those five months. Also, an additional $1B in expired medication was discovered in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) bond.
Dr Anthony had revealed that from 2015, close to $10B worth of medicines had to be discarded.
