14/02/2022
_Golden star Reporter_
About The Honeybee Scandal Is The Victim.
…but it will not be suppressed forever, as ZAMMSA says it shipped Honeybee medicines by error.
Lusaka – 13th February, 2022.
Following the public outcry on the decision by the new dawn government to ship out “expired drugs”, a topic that formed one of its main campaign messages in the health sector ahead of the 2021 general elections, the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA) has issued a rather questionable press statement.
ZAMMSA says it would like to clarify that the said honeybee medicines (Paracetamol 500mg and 100mg) that were distributed to Kabwe and Kasama General Hospitals were shipped to the two institutions by error.
“ZAMMSA immediately contacted and collected the said products from the two affected facilities (Kabwe General Hospital and Kasama General Hospital) after the anomaly was detected. ZAMMSA internal reviews conducted thus far indicate that the product was under Quality Control (quarantine) and should not have been distributed. It is not the intention of the institution to distribute medicines or medical supplies under Quality Control (QC).
We wish to unreservedly apologise to the members of the general public for this anomaly. ZAMMSA will continue to provide a high level of service that is expected of our institution. we also pledge to continue to improve our systems to ensure that they continue to Support the delivery of quality health services,” read the ZAMMSA press statement.
Questions Not Addressed!
1. Who identified the said anomaly?
2. Where are the medical supplies under QC kept to have created the mix-up?
3. Honeybee supplied medical kits, so who unbundled them and why?
4. Why is ZAMMSA keeping expired drugs in the first place?
What Is The Honeybee Scandal?
The Ministry of Health (MoH) and Honeybee Pharmacy Ltd. undertook a contract on November 22, 2019, for the supply of 22,500 medical kits and the firm initially supplied 5,000 high quality grade WHO standard medical kits at a net worth of UD$3,990,700 from reputable manufacturers in India. No amount was paid by the MoH for the costs and expenses incurred.
The MoH awarded two other contracts relating to the supply of health kits within the same emergency supply contract involving Pharmanova and Artemis. These two entities never supplied what they were awarded leading to the MoH cancelling the two contracts.
Pharmanova’s contract was worth US$3,554,100 and Artemis was valued at US$14,139,450. Honeybee Pharmacy Limited’s priority was the health and safety of Zambian citizens and provided the medical kits before any payment by the MoH was made, and yet, they were defamed and slandered in the media.
Honeybee competitors, a cartel of politicians, and strategically positioned civil servants defiled science and falsified reports to dent their perceived political threat, former Health Minister, Dr. Chitalu Chilufya. They first claimed that Honeybee Pharmacy Limited was paid US$17,000,000 when there was no financial transaction between the MoH and Honeybee pharmacy Limited. Honeybee took the financial burden for all the 5,000 medical kits supplied to the MoH at the time government had no money.
Upon shipment arrivals, it was discovered that one batch of Paracetamol was discoloured. This batch was immediately replaced at a cost of more than US$600,000 to Honeybee Pharmacy Ltd and none of
these costs were reimbursed.
Shouldn’t the Ministry of Health, instead, be commended for having put in place a robust pharmacovigilance system which includes receipt, collation, causality assessment and provision of feedback on received ADRs and medicines quality problems?
“We must endeavour never to manipulate oversight institutions in order to settle scores with perceived political enemies. Let’s not defile science. Let’s not falsify reports just to inflame the nation. So, today I go on record that we never procured drugs that were expired, neither did we ever procure condoms that were leaking. We did not, whatsoever, subject Zambians to drugs or condoms that were expired or leaking respectively. I am a trained and certified medical doctor and I would never put the lives of Zambians at risk by providing them with drugs that are expired,” Dr.
Chilufya recently emphasised at a media briefing.
“And it is shameful that cartels of senior civil
servants with selected politicians and businessmen colluded to create this narrative just in order to tar my image in the conscious of the public and push me into political oblivion as battles of thrones ravaged the party. That is unacceptable. We have the obligation to future generations. We cannot defile science in order to serve our immediate personal interests!” Dr. Chitalu Chilufya lamented.
Conclusion.
Former Minister of Health, Dr. Chitalu Chilufya, has repeatedly urged the new dawn government to investigate the expired drugs scandal stating that, “…we cannot sacrifice science at the altar of politics.”
So what are we waiting for? It’s extremely irresponsible to hold on to the much needed medical supplies in the wake of the current shortage of medicines in public hospitals and clinics just to save face on the part of our desperate political leaders who had blatantly lied about several other issues ahead of the 2021 general elections.
It can’t be politics from one election to the next. Dr. Chitalu Chilufya was painted as a very uncaring and extremely negligent Minister of Health for obvious political reasons by the very government institutions that should have defended his office. ZAMRA, ZABS and ZAMMSA remain a failure and contributed to the fall of the PF government. But elections are over. Let’s get back to work.
“Madam Speaker, I want to emphasise that the previous government never paid anyone for health centre kits, never procured expired drugs. Pharmacovigilance is heightened in this country, it’s not possible to procure expired drugs. It’s the politics that will kill people. We must ensure that we unite and confront poverty and disease using stronger health systems and the like. Health is apolitical,” Dr. Chitalu Chilufya told Parliament recently.
Sustaining the lie about the Honeybee scandal is a scandal on its own which must be investigated.
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