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  • NMS receives COVID-19 Health Supplies from the French Government

    NMS receives COVID-19 Health Supplies from the French Government

    The National Medical Stores (NMS) has Tuesday afternoon received COVID-19 health supplies which were donated to Uganda by France.
    The items include one million FFP2 face masks, 54,000 testing kits and nine respirators.

    The donation valued at Shs 10.8bn was handed over to Uganda at a ceremony held at NMS headquarters in Entebbe in the presence of the Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja, Health Minister Dr. Ruth Aceng, French ambassador to Uganda, Jules-Armand Aniambossou, State Ministers of Health, NMS Board member Dr Christine Ondoa, the Dr Diana Atwiine the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and the NMS General Manager, Moses Kamabare.’

    According to Dr Diana Atwiine the Permanent Secretary in the Ministrty of Health, ‘‘the Ugandan government spent UGshs 368 million on the shipment of the consignment from France to Uganda’’
    Nabbanja thanked the government of France for the generous donation of items which will help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Prime Minister called for more international solidarity, especially in accessing COVID-19 vaccines, saying that the fight covid-19 is one that can only be won when the international community acts collectively and in solidarity.

    ‘‘This contribution is further testimony of the long standing solidarity between the French people and the people of Uganda’’, she declared, adding that France has ably demonstrated her friendship with Uganda in many ways and consistently over the years.

    On his part, H.E Aniambossou applauded Uganda’s effort in the fight against COVID19 and reaffirmed the French government’s solidarity with the government of Uganda
    “We appreciate Uganda’s exemplary efforts in the fight against the pandemic. France will always stand in solidarity with Uganda in the common struggle’’, he said.
    Nabbanja thanked National Medical Stores for supporting the National Response to the COVID- 19 pandemic by receiving and warehousing PPEs, Test Kits, and other response supplies from and on behalf of the government of Uganda and adequately distributing them to points of entry and hospitals across the country.

    NMS has a modern 7,200 square Metre warehouse at Entebbe (present location) which is used for the orderly receipt, storage and packing of medical supplies destined to public health facilities across Uganda.

    NMS mandate is to procure, store and deliver drugs mainly to public health facilities.
    The institution has in the last few months been storing and distributing COVID-19 vaccines across Uganda.
    This is in addition to the regular distribution of essential medicines and health supplies.
    Health Minister Dr Ruth Aceng said France’s donation was a much-needed boost to our response in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
    She added: Not so long ago, on 17 June,2021 I was here at NMS with the French Ambassador receiving 175,200 doses of AZ vaccines donated by the French Government under the dose sharing arrangement through COVAX Facility. That support came in handy and helped the Government of Uganda towards ensuring that we vaccinate the Ugandan population.
    Aceng said the donation of masks, testing kits and respirators will be deployed in various health facilities involved in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
    ‘Accountability for these supplies is very important for us but we also understand that it is in your interest that the supplies are used for the intended purpose’’ said Aceng.
    The Prime Minister called for more international solidarity, especially in accessing Covid 19 vaccines, saying that the fight against Covid 19 is one that can only be won when the international community acts collectively and in solidarity.
    “No one can be safe unless everyone is safe, because the world is now very connected through trade, travel and tourism. This Covid 19 has shown us that the pandemic doesn’t know or respect national boundaries’’, said Nabbanja.
    ‘But we continue to see a disparity in access to vaccines with developed countries vaccinating their people while developing countries are struggling to get vaccines’’
    Nabbanja said the COVID-19 cases are reducing slightly, urging the public to

    NATIONAL MEDICAL STORES
    continue to wash hands with soap, avoiding crowds, keeping a distance and lining up for vaccination when your turn comes.
    Results of COVID-19 tests done on 25 July 2021 confirmed 71 new cases, with the test positivity rate dropping to 6.6 percent, according to the Ministry of Health. The cumulative confirmed cases are now 92,795.
    The Ambassador of France said that the donation was a gesture of solidarity towards a friendly country in the fight against a common enemy. He reaffirmed the commitment of his government to continue standing in solidarity with Uganda in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
    NMS will distribute the donated items to respective public health facilities upon receiving dispatch instructions from the Ministry of Health.
    Since the outbreak, France has donated over 50,000 litres of alcohol-based hand sanitizers to UPDF, 15,000 euros to support the development of simple, rapid, low-cost Covid-19 diagnostic tests by Makerere University school of public health, and the recent 175,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines that came through the Covax facility.

  • Eid Fete: NMS Donates to Katabi Muslims

    Eid Fete: NMS Donates to Katabi Muslims

    National Medical Stores (NMS) has this Tuesday evening donated items worth millions of shillings to the Muslim community in Katabi, Entebbe ahead of Eid al-Fitr celebrations.


    “We are very grateful for this donation by NMS,” said Sheikh Mugenyi Asooka of Masjid Noor Katabi.
    “We asked the NMS General Manager Mr Moses Kamabare to support us during this Eid al-Fitr. We are glad he sent food and a bull which we will share with our families,” he added.


    The items donated by NMS include 300kgs of posho, 200kgs of sugar, cooking oil, maize flour, wheat flour, salt, beans and a bull.
    “For us, Eid is a moment of joy and celebration. By donating to us, NMS has made our Eid extra special,” said Nuriat Nampijja, a mother of three.


    NMS has for the last five years been donating food items to various mosques during such festivities.
    “Today is a testament of our commitment to continue working together,” said NMS public relations official, Esther Bamukunda.
    “We will keep doing this. We know you as our brothers and sisters. We love you so much,” she added.
    NMS is a government institution whose mandate is to procure, store and deliver drugs and essential health supplies across Uganda.
    The organization recently conducted a free yellow fever vaccination exercise in Arua.

    Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.
    Eid al-Fitr will begin on Thursday May 13 as the Shawwal moon was not sighted on Tuesday, according to the Haramain Sharifain Twitter account posting live from the Tumair observatory in Saudi Arabia.
    Eid al-Fitr is traditionally celebrated with large gatherings for worshippers to pray and break their fasts.

  • NMS Partners Distrust Gov’t Financial System

    NMS Partners Distrust Gov’t Financial System

    National Medical Stores (NMS) has spoken out on MPs’ concerns that the institution is not using the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS), saying this situation was partly caused by strict engagement conditions set by their donor partners.

    NMS’ partners such as like USAID, GAVI and Global Fund contract and pay the entity for storage, delivery and distribution of the essential medicines and vaccines donated to the people of Uganda.
    Such donors were, because of the past experiences such as the Global Fund scandal, reluctant to deposit their tax payers’ money via the Consolidated Fund and remained apprehensive of potential accountability inconsistencies in case they didn’t deal with NMS directly as the service provider.

    Lawmakers this Thursday afternoon said this could lead to abuse of public funds.
    Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Nandala Mafabi said NMS should be held to account for delaying to subscribe to the financial system used by other government institutions.
    MPs also observed that donor support funds should be appropriated by Parliament for accountability.

    However, State Minister of Finance Hon David Bahati said an amendment to existing laws is being prepared to provide for this requirement.
    He explained that it’s not only NMS but several other institutions receiving tight conditions from donors.
    NMS procures, stores and delivers essential medicines, health supplies and vaccines across Uganda.

    NMS says it has generated revenue for the Government through earning service fees for the provision of medicines storage, delivery and distributions’ services on behalf of the donors.
    Mafabi recently reported NMS to President Museveni, calling for an investigation into the operations of the institution over alleged corruption.

    The report compiled by IGG exonerated NMS of any wrongdoing.
    It indicated that donor funds were transparently captured by NMS management and the same was reflected in the entity’s budget as scrutinized and approved by the Board.
    “According to the financial statements, NMS’ expenditure was in line with the approved budgets,” the IGG’s report reads in part.
    The report indicates that the investigators referred to several audits routinely conducted by the Office of the Auditor General, covering both Government and donor funding, which rated NMS highly having inquired into the management of funds donors pay to NMS for warehousing, delivery and distribution of medicines and vaccines and no foul play ever being detected.
    “An audit [into all that] by the OAG on the NMS accounts for the FY ended 30th June 2019 did not indicate any mismanagement of funds,” said the IGG.

  • Inspectorate of Government makes courtesy visit to NMS

    Inspectorate of Government makes courtesy visit to NMS

    Kampala: The National Medical Stores (NMS) has hosted a team from the Inspectorate of Government to create awareness about its operations, challenges faced in executing its mandate and establishing a working partnership with the institution.


    While addressing the Inspectorate’s representatives, NMS General Manager Moses Kamabare noted that while NMS fulfills its mandate of delivering medicines and medical supplies to the public health facilities, some individuals in charge of the supplies at the health facilities hoard the supplies with hopes of selling them illegally.


    “Through the NMS Last Mile Delivery of commodities, we ensure essential medicines and health supplies are delivered right to the door step of the health centers and the in-charge of the center receives and signs a delivery note confirming receipt of the supplies,” said Kamabare.


    “However, we continue to receive reports of claims of absence of the medicines and supplies which we investigate only to find that they have been shelved for months with an agenda of selling the medicines and supplies yet they are not for sell,” he emphasised.


    Kamabare further noted that some people obtain medicines from various facilities feigning sickness with the purpose of selling the medicines while some pharmacists prescribe medicines outside the health centers or in large quantities against the Ministry of Health Standard Clinical Guidelines thus causing harm to the health of the recipient.


    “We have seen some people who pretend to fall sick and pick medicines which are not for sell from various public health facilities and they have made businesses out of this, selling to people even across the border,” he observed.
    “It is imperative that we therefore develop a system to monitor and track the amount of medicines people receive from any public health facility across the country because this affects the availability of medicines. We need to hold these perpetrators to account.”


    The Inspectorate of Government team comprising of Director Leadership Code, Annet Twine, Manager Strategic Partnerships and Public Relations- Munira Ali, Manager Verifications, Amos Baguma and Senior Inspectorate Officer, Pauline Nansamba expressed appreciation of the information shared with them and promised to support the store in ensuring availability of medical supplies especially in the regional health centers.
    The Inspectorate Manager Strategic Partnerships and Public Relations – Munira Ali called for a partnership between the Inspectorate and NMS to hold recipients of the medical supplies to account.
    “One of the things we do is monitor implementation of government programs but we’ve also done this through empowering communities. We have over 90,000 foot soldiers mostly in the northern part of the country and we want to see how we can actually work together to utilize these foot soldiers,” said Munira.
    “We have a lot of experience working with them. When you deliver drugs, can you give them a copy of the medicines that have been delivered so that if there’s any issue, someone may even be able to approach them and ask them about the unavailable supplies and they can help them to go and find out by demanding for information,” she added.
    In a letter addressed to NMS by Acting IGG Mariam Wangadya and presented by Director Leadership Code, Annet Twine, the inspectorate recognised that the health sector is one of the most scrutinized public service as it directly affects citizens’ right of life and it is for this reason that NMS must espouse the highest level of integrity in performance of their duties.
    “We are happy with the innovations NMS has put in place to promote efficiency in their work and also promote accountability and integrity. I encourage NMS to ensure that systems and procedures are transparent and that accountability is done in a timely manner,” said Wangadya.

    The visit concluded with a tour of the new state of the art NMS warehouse in Kajjansi during which the IG team further expressed appreciation of the strides taken by NMS in ensuring availability of safe and standard medical supplies in the country and re-echoed their support.
    National Medical stores was established as a Statutory Corporation in 1993 by Act of Parliament, under Chapter 207 of the Laws of Uganda with a mandate to Procure, Stores and Distribute Essential Medicines and Medical Supplies to all Public and government Health Facilities in the Country. In August 2012 this mandate was further expanded to the distribute Vaccines across the country.

    NMS is implementing the “Last Mile Delivery” system to ensure that medical supplies reach the end user at all government health facilities across the country safe and on time.

  • Donors Hail NMS Mosquito Nets Distribution Model

    Donors Hail NMS Mosquito Nets Distribution Model

    The distribution of 28 million mosquito nets across Uganda has come to an end with a donor partner suggesting the model employed by authorities should be used as a “best practice” and shared with other countries.

    A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to any alternatives because it produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing things.
    Against Malaria Foundation, a London-based non-governmental which co-funded the distribution of mosquitoes, shared it’s my appreciation for National Medical Stores (NMS) team “throughout this campaign in the due diligence, prompt and timely reporting and responding to enquiries and concerns and the level of detail provided.”


    Shaun Walsh, Programme Director, Against Malaria Foundation said NMS has “done an exceptional job given all the challenges to keep stakeholders like AMF informed as to what is going on via many avenues of communication.”
    Walsh added: “I would advise the entire NMS process is documented as a best practice and shared with other countries.”
    MF has signed an agreement with the Uganda Ministry of Health to fund 11.6 million nets for distribution during 2020.
    This represents 50% of Uganda’s long-lasting insecticide treated net (LLIN) need for the universal coverage campaign which started in 2020.
    Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr Diana Atwine last year said NMS was tasked to handle the procurement, storage and transportation of the mosquito nets because of its capacity to reach the entire country.
    According to Atwine, the mosquito nets were distributed door to door by the Village Health Teams assisted by local area leaders.
    On tracking the movement of the mosquito nets from the central warehouse to the sub counties, the General Manager, Moses Kamabare said government embraced ICT solutions.
    “We are using a digitalized system to track the movement of these nets, the same way we have been doing while monitoring the distributed medicines to the various health facilities and districts,” he said.
    The nets were distributed in waves.
    The last wave (5B) saw NMS conduct deliveries to 149 Sub counties covering 12 Districts as per Ministry of Health allocation amounting to 104,983 bales (4,199,320 Nets).
    Malaria kills between 14 to 16 people daily, resulting in 4,000 deaths annually.
    Several studies have shown that sleeping under a mosquito net reduces one’s chances of contracting Malaria.
    Mosquito Net Donor: NMS’ Good Distribution Practice a Model for other Countries.
    NMS used a digitalized system to track the movement of mosquito nets, the same way we have been doing while monitoring the distributed medicines to the various health facilities and districts,” he said.