More pharmaceutical warehouses on the way
Brian Rungano Temba
This week, President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa received and officially commissioned the new state of the art National Pharmaceutical Warehouse at Sally Mugabe Hospital in Harare.
The project is a result of a partnership between the Zimbabwe and Chinese governments.
NatPharm is responsible for procuring and distributing medicines and medical supplies to all public health institutions and mission hospitals around the country.
The new Pharmaceutical Warehouse will now ensure that recording, storage and stock taking is easier as everything is computerized.
The infrastructure also meets international standards to efficiently store medicines and other pharmaceutical products.
This will contribute towards the provision of good health care and saving lives.
President Mnangagwa said his Government intends to build more of these warehouses and fill them up with locally made medicine, creating independence from foreign aid in the face of future pandemics.
“In line with our devolution and decentralisation agenda, my government is set to roll out Regional NatPharm medical stores warehouses. To date the construction of another state of art 2 500 square metres Regional NatPharm warehouse has began in Mutare.
Strides have been made to secure land to construct additional regional warehouses in Mashonaland Central (Bindura), Matebeleland North (Lupane) and Matebeleland South (Gwanda).
These warehouses will minimise government’s outsourcing of storage facilities,” said President Mnangagwa.
“Ultimately it is my expectation that we must gradually begin to see the shelves of these warehouses being filled up with Made in Zimbabwe pharmaceutical products in line with our National Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Strategy,” he added.
Big Pharmaceutical Companies like Johnson & Johnson and Astra Zeneca saw a great boom in their revenues during the COVID 19 pandemic from Manufacturing and selling vaccines to countries.
Most underdeveloped countries in Africa were the last to get these vaccines due to losing the biddings for first preference.
Currently the Russian NATO-Ukranian conflict has disrupted most of the global supply chains of good due to the war and Economic sanctions being flung around by NATO forces.
“Zimbabwe is desirous to urgently reduce risks associated with disruptions in global supply chains as we experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore the increased local production of drugs should see more of our local people having access to vital medicines at a lower cost,” said the President.
He added that local manufacturing must also create modern jobs, stimulate economic activities and increase productivity across the pharmaceutical value chain.
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