The committee for the upgrade of the Drugs Manufacturing Unit (DMU) of the Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA) and that of merging the KSCHMA DRF and Facility DRF had submitted their reports.
It could be recalled that the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf had, on 21st November 2023, inaugurated the two committees and given with the terms of reference to work on for the successful execution of the assignments.
In an event that took place at the DMCSA, Dr. Labaran highlighted that the DMCSA is saddled with the responsibility of providing qualitative and affordable drugs to the health facilities of the state, which can only be done through the DMU of the Agency that locally produces the drugs to alleviate the sufferings of a common man.
The Commissioner affirmed that upgrading the DMU is timely and necessary because the policy on drugs in the country is now shifting towards locally manufactured drugs, for which the federal government is going to allocate funds for that purpose.
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He urged the management of the DMCSA to take advantage of this and find a gateway for accessing the fund, stressing that the funds if accessed, could be utilized to hasten the upgrade of the DMU to work adequately to ensure the ceaseless provision of qualitative, available and affordable drugs as yearn for by the people of the state.
On merging the KSCHMA DRF and facility DRF, Dr. Labaran revealed that it has been observed that almost all the facilities do what they feel free regarding the KSCHMA scheme, though there were improvements nowadays especially due to the regular checks on them
The Commissioner emphasized the recommendation of the committee to harmonize the operations of KSCHMA and facility across all the state DRF/KSCHMA facilities that should be phased, adding that this is for the committee to train the stakeholders from the facilities on the integration strategies.
He thanked members of the committee for their doggedness and commitment to accomplish the tasks on time, assuring them that the reports would be thoroughly perused and their recommendations would be looked into to strengthen the activities of the two Agencies.
Earlier in his remarks, the Director General of the Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA) Pharm. Gali Sule hinted that providing quality drugs to the people of Kano is part of His Excellency’s campaign promises, and it was the main reason the Commissioner felt it necessary to upgrade the DMU to operate optimally.
He said the unit is serving not only as drugs manufacturing but also as training center because many universities do send their SIWES students to be trained at the unit, hence it shouldn’t be allowed to operate below standard.
On her part, the Executive Secretary of the KSCHMA, Dr. Rahila Muhktar, appreciated the giant strides of Alhaji Abba Kabir of giving the much needed attention to the healthcare system of the state, and also appreciated the level of commitment of Dr. Labaran and his readiness to always see to the improvement of the sector.
She affirmed her Agency’s unwavering dedication to ensuring robust KSCHMA operations in the facilities in order to meet the demands of the clients.
Signed:
Ibrahim Abdullahi
Information Officer
Ministry of Health
5 February 2024