Armazém de medicamentos
Maputo, 13 Feb (AIM) – Mozambican Health Minister Ussene Isse on Wednesday announced that the country has medicines available for the next nine months, although there are challenges in distributing them across the country.
According to the minister, who was speaking to reporters on Tuesday, during a working visit to two pharmaceutical factories in Maputo province, the country had sufficient medicines for the next nine months, before the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced its suspension of support to the country’s health system following President Donald Trump’s decision to shut down the agency.
“Before the US announcements, we had medicines available for nine months”, said Isse. “In terms of the quantity of medicines, we are comfortable. But now the challenge is for the medicine to reach the patients. This pillar is fundamental and we all have to collaborate so that the medicine reaches the patients”.
The Minister challenged the factories to produce more medicines in order to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign aid and provide medicines for the National Health System.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that we have the conditions in the country to solve the main health problems, because there is a production line for medicines here that responds to our country’s disease profile. These factories will be able to export to neighboring countries, because they have quality”, he said.
According to data cited by the Portuguese News Agency Lusa, Mozambique was the member of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) that received the most aid from USAID in 2023, totalling over 664 million dollars.
Over the last two years, the Mozambican National Health System has faced several moments of pressure, caused by staff strikes called first by the Association of Mozambican Doctors, against wage cuts and lack of overtime pay, and then by the Association of United Health Professionals of Mozambique (APSUSM), in defense of better working conditions.
(AIM)
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