Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm) has secured land in various provinces for the construction and expansion of warehouses to enhance accessibility, availability and affordability of safe and quality medicines throughout the country in line with the devolution agenda.
The state owned enterprise whose mandate is to procure, store and distribute medicines and medical supplies to public health institutions has also began engaging the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry to source locally produced medicine in order to promote the industry and reduce costs and pricing.
In an interview after touring Datlabs, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Bulawayo, NatPharm Board Chairperson Ms Ruth Kaseke said when NatPharm was commercialised in 2000, its mandate was to procure on behalf of Government, store through warehousing as well as distribute medicine. She said warehousing was an area that they have done significantly well as they were expanding and constructing more warehouses countrywide.
“We currently have six warehouses with the main one being the national warehouse which was commissioned by President Mnangagwa in October 2022. We have other warehouses in Masvingo, Mutare, Chinhoyi, Gweru and Bulawayo. We have already secured land in Bindura, Mashonaland Central and working on acquiring land in Mashonaland East while expansion of the Gweru warehouse is at an advanced stage.
“There have also been promises of land in Matabeleland North and we are working with Matabeleland South. The whole issue is in line with devolution. We would like each and every province to have a warehouse so that the distance between the storage and the user is reduced. Most of our warehouses will be nearer to provincial hospitals,” said Ms Kaseke.
She said they were also building up their fleet with Government already having availed 15 trucks to add on to the 30 that were available. In addition, two 30 tonne truckers were expected to service the southern and northern regions of the country. Ms Kaseke reiterated the importance of people having access to medicines at clinic level, district, and provincial up to the tertiary level which are the central hospitals.
“As part of the national pharmaceutical strategy which was launched by Government, NatPharm is tasked to ensure the growth of the local industry. We have now commenced active engagement with the local industry. We are here in Bulawayo where we had a meeting and toured the factory at Datlabs to see what they manufacture, match that with requirements of the country and see how best we can source the medicines produced locally.
“In the process we are also trying to understand and appreciate their cost structure. In the past we have had challenges where at times we have international tenders and the local costs becomes higher than if you are comparing with suppliers like those who come from India. In our understanding of the cost structure, it will also enable us to make the appropriate recommendations to our principals in terms of how best to manage those areas of procurement and still remain compliant,” said Ms Kaseke.
She said the interaction with the local industry would enable them to try as much as possible to source medicines locally and direct the foreign currency requirements to other critical areas which might include the capitalisation of the industry in terms of equipment.
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