Although health facilities continue to run out of medication every year, the government continues to struggle to find a sustainable solution to address medicine supply management issues.
National MP Eladio Faculto said the matter was an ongoing issue and had not been addressed by either the former or current government.
“It is not a matter of money for medication supplies; it is poor of management because the parliament approves a specific budget for the purchase of medicine annually,” he said at the National Parliament.
“I received information from Asu-Manu and Soru sukus (villages) that they have already run out of medicine to treat patients,” he said.
Although the Timor-Leste constitution grants communities access to free medical treatment, Faculto said the reality showed that people must use their own money to purchase medicine and pay for treatment at private clinics.
“I went to the National Hospital of Guido Valadares for treatment to get a blood test and have a consultation, but they (health personnel) gave me prescription and asked me to purchase the medicine outside (at a pharmacy),” he said.
According to Faculto, the problems were not only a management issue, but also because the Autonomous Drug and Medical Equipment Service (SAMES) lacked adequate transportation to distribute medicine in health facilities across the country.
In response to the issue, the General Director of SAMES, Odete Maria Belo, acknowledged that essential medication stocks in the storage warehouse were running low because the tender process was not yet complete.
However, she said hospitals did have funds to purchase emergency medication for patients in the interim.
“They must buy it (medicine) because we have not yet imported the medicine,” she said.
“That is the procedure and we cannot force the company to import medicine.”
She said the issue was linked to the transition of SAMES from a public enterprise to a government institution.
She said SAMES must also manage the new procurement process and therefore this impacted medicine stocks.
In 2013, the government through the council ministers dissolved SAMES, removing its authority to supply medication stocks due to irregularities in the procurement process.
From 2013 to 2015, the Health Ministry then assumed responsibility for managing the procurement process for medication supplies.
However, this year the government decided to allow SAMES to operate as an autonomous institution. As part of its new role it is now responsible for managing the procurement process, distribution and the storage warehouse.
Meanwhile, the National Hospital’s Director for Medication Support and Therapy, Mendes Pinto, said that local companies Istana pharmacy, Gunung Mas and Betsheda had won the tender to supply medicine to the hospital in the event stocks were unavailable through SAMES.
All three companies have been importing medication and reagents for the national hospital since March, but have yet to receive payment.
“We will just pay Betsheda Company for the three-month period (March-May) the amount of $93,000, but this doesn’t include Istana pharmacy and Gunung Mas company,” he said.
He said hospital managers had submitted an application to Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo asking for additional funds to pay the companies as the ministry only allocated $32,000 to the hospital this year for the purchase of emergency medicine supplies.
The Prime Minister has since approved the proposal, allocating $1.3 million to pay the companies and purchase another machine for CT scans.
The hospital will also use existing funds allocated for other expenses like internet and electricity to settle the debts owed to the companies.
In addition to the $32,000 allocated to the national hospital this year, Health Minister Maria do Ceu Sarmento said health centers also received $5000 to purchase essential medicines and other items when SAMES was out of stock.
“Health facilities run out of medicine, it’s a matter of poor management,” she said.
She said health center managers were required to submit a proposal before the funds were approved so that the Health Ministry could verify with SAMES whether the request was justified.
