A total of three district officials and two from the National Medical Stores (NMS) were arrested in Ugandan district of Busia for alleged negligence after vital medicines were spoiled due to being left out in the pouring rain, Michael Kibwika, the Busia Resident District Commissioner (RDC) told the local media.
"They were arrested and detained at Busia Central Police Station pending investigations into acts of negligence. It is sad that NMS officials would dump medicine meant for the people of Busia in the open for hours to be drenched in rain," he said.
The local news outlet, 'The Monitor' reported that the anti-malaria and HIV/AIDS drugs, worth hundreds of millions of Ugandan shillings (tens of thousands of US dollars), as well as other vital drugs, were left in the open air. The police will have to sort out this precarious situation and understand who is responsible for the damage. Local authorities have expressed their concerns and denounced the incident.
According to the report, some of the officials questioned why the drugs were delivered to the District headquarters and left out in the open instead of being delivered directly to the health centers. The spoiled medicines reportedly required a special storage conditions and were supposed to be kept in a specific environment.
Yahaya Juma, the District Councillor for Eastern Division in Busia Municipality, told the new agency that this incident occurred while essential "medicines are out of stock" in "several health facilities."
For many years, Uganda has been experiencing a shortage of medicines supplies in the East African country. In 2018, for instance, the president of the Uganda Medical Association told the media that there was a shortage of basic medicines and medical supplies in the country's public hospitals.
In February, Uganda's Minister of Health, Jane Ruth Aceng, said in a meeting with the national parliament that the shortage of essential drugs and medical supplies in the health facilities were due to a lack of funding, lack of sufficient financial resources, and inflexible distribution system.