The Director General of the Medical and Health Equipment Autonomous Service (SAMES), that dispenses medicines and medical supplies to hospitals and other health facilities in Timor-Leste, Odete Maria Belo said so far it has not received a formal request for medicines from the National Hospital Guido Valadares (NHGV).
DG Belo said also in response to claims the national hospital is currently short of medicines.
She added had SAMES received an order from the HNGV for medicines it would have already dispensed the medicines at the same time it sent medicines to the medical facilities in Suai and Manatuto Districts.
“If I haven’t signed a dispatch for the HNGV, it means I have not received a request from them,” she said.
SAMES is the government’s medicine and health supplies warehouse that stocks and dispenses medicines upon request by medical facilities, including hospitals. If hospitals request medicines not in stock, SAMES will order and purchase those medicines.
Meanwhile the Chief of the HNGV’s Pharmacy Department, Inacio da Costa, said medicine distributor Kimia Farma submitted a list of 33 items of medicines to the commission of assessment who has not yet passed on the request to SAMES.
According to Chief da Costa, the HNGV has two criteria when ordering medicines categorising orders as either regular, meaning they need monthly re-stocking, and emergency for extreme cases, because the HNGV is the national hospital in the capital of Timor-Leste.
“Right now we lack approximately 10 per cent of medicines, but we are fully stocked with essential medicines,” said the Chief of Pharmacy.
Meanwhile Member of Parliament (MP), Ilda Maria da Conçeicão, said she has strong concerns with the health sector in the country, in particular the issue of lack of medicines because the parliament approved the annual budget for the purchase of medicines, yet patients still complain over a lack of medicines.
“I was given a big list from the Baucau Referral Hospital where they say they lack medicines. Patients need medicines and it has been nine months since the budget was approved so I don’t understand why they have not been able to purchase medicines to stock the medical facilities,” said MP da Conçeicão.
