Malawi: Drug Theft Scandal? Parliament Launches Probe As Hospital Medicine Stocks Crash to Just 18 Percent
[Nyasa Times] A shocking probe has been launched amid claims that life-saving medicines are being stolen from Malawi's public hospitals while patients are left facing empty shelves and desperate shortages.
Malawi's Parliament has launched a probe into allegations of life-saving medicines being stolen from public hospitals, with medicine availability at major referral hospitals reported to be as low as 18 percent. The Health Committee has uncovered evidence suggesting that drugs intended for sick and vulnerable patients are disappearing from government hospitals, leading to empty shelves and shortages.
The committee plans to investigate the entire supply chain, from procurement and transportation to pharmacy management, and is expected to question senior government officials, pharmaceutical suppliers, the Inspector General of Police, and officers from the Anti-Corruption Bureau. The probe has also raised concerns about trucks assigned to deliver medicines not reaching their intended destinations.
Health rights campaigners have welcomed the investigation, hoping it will expose the root causes of the chronic shortages plaguing public hospitals.
Brief written by urgent.news from AllAfrica Health's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
