Health workers who steal government drugs are responsible for some deaths- Minister Aceng

Health workers who steal government drugs are responsible for some deaths- Minister Aceng

By Hope Mafaranga

The minister of health Dr. Jane Aceng has said some of the deaths that happen in Uganda, have been contributed by health workers who steal government drugs from health facilities.


The minister made the remarks on Friday during the launch of a $10.3 million Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system at the National Medical Stores (NMS) headquarters, Entebbe in Wakiso district.

 The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded the 5 year ERP system software that will be used by NMS to manage procurement, warehouse management and drug distribution.

The system will also help health facilities to manage daily businesses including accounting, procuring and ordering drugs from NMS and project management.

The disappointed minister said, it was so sad and painful to see people die as a result of drug shortage yet government procures them to save the lives of Ugandans only to be stolen at the health facilities.

“Government buys the drugs to treat Ugandans for free, but a lot has been getting lost at the health facilities by the custodians,” she said.

 Dr. Aceng said her ministry will do what it takes to prosecute health workers who steal drugs and hold them accountable. She said the ERP system is one of the measures they will get to know who has been robbing government drugs and causing unnecessary deaths of Ugandans.

 “When a health worker steals drugs that are meant to save someone’s live, it causes drug stock outs in health facilities.

The health worker directly sentences the patient to death. Now we have the system in place and we need to know who is stealing the medicines and we shall deal with them accordingly,” she said. She also advised the health workers to go back to their core code of ethics and standards of practice of saving people’s lives.

The US Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac reaffirmed the US government’s commitment to improving the supply chain system in Uganda. Malac said over the years, the U.S. government has provided significant support to Uganda to improve health for thousands of people.

She said last year, the U.S gave more than $500 million, making it the largest single donor to Uganda’s health system. She disclosed that the fund has assisted more than 10 million Ugandans get tested for HIV, contributed to the largest-ever distribution of insecticide treated bed nets in the world and more than 700,000 women have safe deliveries in health facilities.

The ambassador said the launch of the ERP was the latest milestone demonstrating the strong partnership between Uganda, US and other stakeholders to accelerate Uganda’s progress towards an effective and sustainable supply chain system.

 “An efficient and effective supply chain is a component for providing Ugandans access to quality health care in order to lead a healthy and productive life,” Malac said.
 Malac said her government was impressed with the way NMS has managed $27 million commodities that they provided over two years to fill the important gap in antiretroviral (ARVS) drugs.

She however noted that getting drugs to over one million Ugandans living with HIV/AIDS in many health facilities across the country is a formidable challenge that calls for better health systems.

“These drugs are a matter of life and death for the people who need them and no matter how different the logistics, we must succeed in delivering them,” she added.

Malac said the ERP system will provide a viable solution for improving the public sector’s over all transparency, accountability, forecasting and management of health supplies.

She asked the NMS staff and to manage the system well in order to benefit Ugandans and do its intended purpose.

“Managing this new system is not a matter of simply installing new software on some computers, it is an entirely new way of doing business which requires changing organisational processes and managing the change throughout the supply chain,” she said.

She commended the ministry of finance for its commitment in financing the health sector and the local government which she said plays a critical role in the supply chain cycle and puts the drugs and commodities into the patient’s hands.

She however asked the Ugandan government to increase its funding for health sector. The NMS general Manager Moses Kamabare said the system will eliminate the use of paper work and saving health facilities huge amount of money they have been spending in delivering hard copies of their drugs and other medical supplies orders.

 Kamabare said the ERP system will also help health actors including the health in-charges to monitors drugs right from the manufactures, to the NMS stores and delivery of drugs to their respective health centers.

 “ Because the health in-charges will be able to see the supply chain from the manufacturers, to our stores, to the time when the drugs are loaded to truck to their areas, it will wipe out the negative mentality that NMS were supplying empty boxes to health centers and drugs that the health centers did not ask for,” he said.

Dr. Diana Atwine the ministry of health permanent secretary said the system will silence politicians who always claim that government is doing nothing towards improving the health of Ugandans.

“Health is one of the of leading agendas politicians use to discredit government. The ERP system launch is timely as we near election campaigns, politicians will have nothing to say about the poor health service delivery as this system will help us to tract, monitor, account to the people and increase transparency,” she said.

The launch was attended by the NMS Chairman of the Board Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, the Kabarole district health officer Dr. Richard Mugahi, former Mbarara municipality MP Dr. Medard Bitekyerezo among others.

Getting to the heart of stigma

The early days of the HIV epidemic gave rise to two epidemics: one that was viral in nature and another composed of fear, loathing and blame. Three decades into the epidemic, it remains clear: HIV and AIDS doesn't discriminate; People do. Since AIDS first appeared, we’ve made considerable progress in reducing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. But our lack of progress in combatting the epidemic of stigma, discrimination and social exclusion undermines our efforts addressing the diagnosis of HIV, and treatment and care of people living with the virus. The persistence of stigma in the context of HIV also causes immense human hardship and diminishes us as a global community. Since the beginnings of the HIV epidemic, there has been a tendency to conflate stigma and discrimination. However, while the two are related, they are also distinct. Stigma is a social phenomenon that elevates certain groups over others and steadily devalues entire groups of people. Yet, looking back on the past three decades of the epidemic, hope remains: HIV also gave rise to resilience, spirit and determination. So how do we, the HIV community – people whose lives are touched by HIV professionally or personally, who are living with HIV, who are vulnerable to HIV or who know someone affected by HIV – move beyond rhetoric to action in getting to the heart of stigma?

Fuelling the Global Fund

Fuelling the Global Fund The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced the fundraising target for its next 3 year replenishment cycle “The single most important public health measure of 2019. The investment case was launched in Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron and calls for US$14 billion of donations largely from national governments in wealthy countries to cover the Global Fund’s sixth investment period of 2020–22. The $14 billion is just part of an estimated $83 billion that needs to be spent to fight the diseases over the 3 year period, most of which will come from domestic government budgets in affected countries. The full investment case will be presented at a meeting in New Delhi, India, on Feb 8, 2019, and France will host the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment Conference in Lyon on Oct 10, 2019. The Global Fund was established in 2002 to support affected countries in controlling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and to bring the best science and management practices to bear on the diseases. Since 2002 there have certainly been major reductions in deaths and disease: the Results Report published on Sept 12, 2018, claims 27 million lives saved as the result of partnerships in which the Global Fund has invested since its launch -ie, a fall by one-third in the number of deaths. In 2017 alone, nearly $4 billion was invested in partner countries, with 17•5 million people on antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV/AIDS, 5 million people treated for tuberculosis, and 197 million mosquito nets distributed. Maintaining this progress is vital to end the three epidemics as public health threats and meet Sustainable Development Goal 3—health and wellbeing for all—by 2030. There are, however, challenges to be faced in staying on track towards the 2030 target. Although HIV/AIDS is gradually being brought under control via a treatment-as-prevention approach based on antiretroviral therapy, there is a risk of the response losing momentum, as discussed in our January, 2019. Deaths from malaria have stopped declining, there has been a recent year-on-year increase in cases, and control is complicated by emerging resistance to insecticides and to artemisinin-based treatments. For tuberculosis, incidence of new cases is falling at about 2% per year, well shy of the 4–5% needed to bring the epidemic under control by 2030, and drug-resistant disease (more than half a million new cases per year) is a growing threat. Political challenges must also be overcome for the next round of Global Fund replenishment to be a success. The USA has historically been the biggest donor, providing nearly a third of contributions. But at a time when the US administration seems more concerned with building barriers between people than uniting them, the future level of contribution remains uncertain. The Trump administration has requested $925 million for the Global Fund in 2019, down from $1•35 billion in 2018, but Congress usually provides more than the president requests, and the administration has said that pledges to the Global Fund are a “smart investment”. The UK has been the third largest donor (about 9%), but although the government commitment to keep international development funding at 0•7% of gross national income remains for now, while the country’s politics is preoccupied with the self-inflicted wounds of Brexit nothing can be guaranteed. Even the commitment of France, the second largest donor (12%), cannot be taken for granted at a time of national popular protests against the policies of Macron’s government. Perhaps it’s time for the governments of rapidly growing economies to take up some of the slack from traditional donors. Sachs and colleagues suggest that China, a former recipient of Global Fund support but now the world’s second largest economy, should become a donor. These authors also suggest that to achieve its targets the Global Fund should be asking for at least twice the $14 billion it has requested, and that this gap in funding should be filled by donations from the pockets of the world’s billionaires. Such broad philanthropy seems unlikely, except for a few enlightened individuals among the super-rich and their foundations. Nevertheless, at the very least the current level of support for the Global Fund needs to be maintained or we risk losing the gains that have been made, in which case the money will eventually have to be spent again. The Global Fund estimates that every dollar it spends brings $19 in health gains and economic returns—that seems a worthwhile investment in anyone’s terms.

Revenue from Uganda's Minerals 2010- 2018

Industrial Minerals occurrences in Uganda

Industrial Minerals occurrences in Uganda

San Francisco and Oakland to host AIDS 2020

The International AIDS Society (IAS) has announced that San Francisco, California, in partnership with nearby Oakland, will host the 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020).

To find the best host for each International AIDS Conference, the IAS conducts an extensive, open-bid process that begins 18 months before a decision is made. For AIDS 2020, we engaged more than 20 cities across the world, starting in 2016.

Our process involves an extensive evaluation that determines each city’s ability to house the meeting and its delegates, commitment to supporting scientific research and implementation, and inclusion of civil society and communities living with HIV in their local response. Each city is required to represent a cross-section of policymakers, scientific researchers and civil society as part of the bid.

It is always our preference to represent different geographies in hosting the International AIDS Conference. For many years, we were fortunate to identify willing government and community partners in resource-limited settings that allowed us to host the meeting while maintaining our commitment to access for people around the globe. For AIDS 2020, only cities in the global North completed a bid application. Even after direct engagement from IAS staff and site visits to potential hosts in the global South, we did not receive any applications.

This is understandable. Being selected as a host city for the International AIDS Conference is not a reward; it is a recognition that there is something particularly unique and challenging about the epidemic in that setting. It is a commitment by conference organizers and local partners to shine a light on strengths and weaknesses in the response. For a variety of reasons, including political climate, not every country is willing to make this commitment.

Many previous conference sites were chosen to directly challenge political and social norms. AIDS 2020 is no exception.

World Conference on Tobacco or Health 2018 announces key science

Breaking research on e-cigarettes, the impact of tobacco point-of-sale display bans, the growing trend towards flavoured cigarettes and the financial impact of smoking on economies and individuals feature in the scientific programme of the 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) Regional science presented at the conference includes smoking and HIV and TB in sub-Saharan Africa and ante-natal tobacco smoke exposure in South Africa

Thursday, 1 February, 2018 (Cape Town, South Africa)--Organisers today announced the scientific programme of the  17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, 7-9 March this year. The growing debate amongst public health practitioners around tobacco harm reduction is reflected in the conference scientific programme with research on e-cigarettes featuring prominently including a much anticipated study on Electronic cigarette use and conventional cigarette smoking initiation among youth in the United States authored by researchers based at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A ban on the open display of tobacco products in the United Kingdom was phased in between 2012 and 2015. Measuring the success of that ban, researchers from the University of Stirling in Scotland will present the study: The impact of a tobacco point-of-sale display ban on youth in the United Kingdom: findings from a repeat cross-sectional survey pre-, mid- and post-implementation. There have been growing concerns amongst tobacco control practitioners around the trend towards the manufacture and marketing of flavoured cigarettes to young adults. The impact of such a trend is the focus of a study by Brazilian researchers: Use of flavoured cigarettes in the first few puffs: a step toward smoking initiation and nicotine addiction? Data from a national survey among Brazilian adolescents. The emergence of data on the economic impact of tobacco smoking at the country and individual levels is vital too for policy making and both are addressed in the study Individual cost of smoking in a study population (US) and in the study Economics of tobacco control in Nigeria: modelling the fiscal and health effects of a tobacco excise tax change (Nigeria). “The high quality of the science being presented in Cape Town comes at a pivotal moment in tobacco control,” said Professor Harry Lando, Chair of the 17th WCTOH Organising Committee. “On the one hand we will see research being presented confirming the astounding public health progress made to eliminate smoking over the past decade but challengingly, we will also see research on trends that are currently shaping the  future  battle lines of tobacco control on a global scale.” “For the past 50 years, WCTOH has been the premier international forum on tobacco control and this year’s event – the first to be held on the African continent – is expected to attract over 2,000 researchers, scientists, civil society, healthcare professionals, policymakers and media representatives from more than 100 countries. Tobacco use is the world’s leading preventable cause of death killing more than seven million people each year,” said Dr Flavia Senkubuge, President of the 17th WCTOH. The conference will also feature a number of key sessions focusing on the upcoming challenges for tobacco control. The opening plenary session, Priorities for Tomorrow’s Tobacco Control Agenda and Sustainable Development on Wednesday 7 March will feature Head of Secretariat for the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Dr Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva. And on Thursday 8 March – International Women’s Day – WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti will be joined by Dr Lorraine Greaves, Senior Investigator at the British Columbia Centre for Excellence on Women’s Health, for the second plenary which will discuss Women, Development and Tobacco Control. While tobacco use is decreasing in many countries, evidence has shown that smoking rates in Africa are anticipated to rise dramatically. By 2030 the number of smokers in the region is projected to increase by 40 percent from 2010 levels, unless there is significant intervention. Africa continues to be aggressively targeted by the tobacco industry, as it represents an opportunity for considerable market growth. “It is highly significant that the WCTOH is taking place on the African continent for the very first time – in many ways the region is a test case for the future direction of tobacco control and its ability in the coming years to rein in aggressive interference from Big Tobacco,” said José Luis Castro, Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), the WCTOH Secretariat. The theme of the conference is Uniting the World for a Tobacco-Free Generation with an overarching focus on expediting progress to reduce tobacco use in all populations around the world – using new research and innovative approaches in public health, as well as powerful but under-used policies, including tobacco taxation and those aimed at preventing industry interference.