The Management of Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi in North Central Nigeria has destroyed drugs worth over two Hundred Million Naira in the state.
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The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Stephen Hwande who led other management staff on the exercise told Journalists that public destruction of the drugs and consumables would eliminate the risk of their administration to patients in the hospital.
He explained that some of the drugs were acquired by the State Government, others through contracts while some were donations.
“We are holding a meeting today with pharmaceutical companies that will come in and supply quality drugs in the hospital”.
He reaffirmed the commitment of his leadership to safeguard the health of the state and ensure that only genuine and valid medicines and consumables of the right qualities are acquired and administered on patients in the hospital.
“What is taking place here is the destruction of drugs and consumables from the hospital. I assumed duty here 2 weeks ago with a mandate from Governor Hyacinth Alia to revamp the hospital, restore it’s dignity and confidence in this place”.
He explained that on assumption of office, he embarked on a tour of the hospital to know what was on ground where he discovered that drugs and consumables worth about 200 million Naira were expired in various stores.
“I also found unclaimed corpses, close to one hundred in the mortuary. This is an eyesore, and to get the records straight, we have written to the Commissioner of Police to give us the right to decompose the corpse” he added.
Dr. Hwande said, there was no justification to have such quantity of drugs in the stores and yet allow people to wallow in various condition of ailments and while the drugs get expire.
“We have IDP Camps, you can take the drugs there and use before they expire. You can give them to General Hospitals or Primary Health Care Centers before they expire or better still, you can do medical outreaches before they expire”.
He noted that “When you get drugs on a short expiry date, you can convey these drugs to other hospitals for usage. Some of these are drugs that were acquired by the hospital to be used for patients. So, why were they abandoned to the point of expiration”. He queried.
Reminded that some sections of the State Teaching Hospital were privatized by the last Management, the Newly appointed Chief Medical Director stated that the hospital had taken decision to put off some of those partnerships that were affecting it in service delivery.
Dr. Hwande regretted that the worth of the drugs was sizable enough to form the biggest pharmacy in Benue State “because the biggest pharmacies don’t even have these kinds of drugs”.
He announced a price reduction of fifty percent for all delivery cases at the Teaching Hospital.
“Even in this hospital, I have discovered that the delivery rates are small compared to its size. We expect that the number of women who should give birth in this hospital will be in the thousands. So, by next week, we will cut the rates by 50 percent to encourage more patronage”, he added.
