As hospitals across Uganda struggle with severe shortages of essential medicines, a report by the Auditor General has revealed a shocking case of mismanagement at the National Medical Stores (NMS), where expired drugs worth billions of shillings continue to pile up.
COVID-19 Vaccine Expiry: Billions Down the Drain
According to the Auditor General’s report, NMS, which is mandated to procure, store, and distribute Essential Medicines and Health Supplies (EMHS) to all public health facilities, is failing to meet expectations.
The audit, conducted in November 2023, found that out of 12,595,920 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in storage at NMS, 5,619,120 doses had already expired—representing a staggering Shs28.1 billion in losses. Alarmingly, another 5,803,200 doses were set to expire within weeks, by December 30, 2023, if they were not distributed and administered in time.
Despite early warnings from NMS management about the slow uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, the Ministry of Health faced challenges in ensuring timely distribution, leading to unnecessary wastage. In response, the Ministry secured funding from GAVI (CDS II) to retrieve and destroy the expired vaccines, but it remains unclear whether this process has been fully executed.
Under Supply and Expired Basic Medicines: A System in Crisis
Beyond vaccines, the crisis extends to the supply of essential medicines. The audit found that out of 3,254 health facilities expected to receive medical supplies from NMS, 3,183 did not receive their planned allocations—an enormous discrepancy worth Shs26.4 billion.
This significant undersupply has led to stock-outs, treatment disruptions, and avoidable suffering for patients in need. Repeated attempts by the audit team to obtain an explanation from NMS’s Accounting Officer, Moses Kamabare, were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
Escalating Expired Stock: A 146% Surge in Wastage
The Auditor General’s report highlights a worrying pattern of inefficiency and wastage at NMS:
Expired medicines and medical supplies increased from Shs13.4 billion in the previous year to a shocking Shs33 billion—a 146% surge.
Meanwhile, the value of medicines dispatched dropped drastically from Shs2.38 trillion to Shs1.46 trillion, raising concerns about the entity’s efficiency and procurement strategies.
Who is Accountable for This Public Health Disaster?
The magnitude of these losses demands urgent answers as key questions remain:
Who authorized the over-procurement of vaccines and medicines that led to such massive waste?
What measures did the Ministry of Health put in place to improve vaccine distribution following NMS’s warnings?
How can the government justify billions in losses while health facilities across the country face severe shortages?
A Call for Transparency and Accountability
This situation raises serious concerns about resource allocation in Uganda’s healthcare sector. To ensure transparency, the Ministry of Health and NMS should provide clear explanations on vaccine procurement, storage, and distribution strategies moving forward.
However, although efforts to obtain a comment from NMS and the Ministry of Health were unsuccessful at the time of publishing, we remain open to an official response.
Ugandans deserve better. We will continue to monitor and expose inefficiencies in our health sector.
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