The Kaduna State Government has planned to customize drugs in its health facilities in order to avoid diversion.
Pharmacist Aisha Tukur Isyaku, Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Health Supplies Management Agency (KADHSMA), disclosed this in Kaduna.
She said with the embodiment and customized logo, it will be easy to identify and trace any drug from the store of Kaduna State.
She further added that drug security is important because it helps put measures in place to ensure that quality, safe and efficacious medicines are produced by facilities that meet the right standards and that the integrity of such medicines are not compromised during distribution along the supply chain from the manufacturers down to the consumers.
According to her, “if we see our drugs where they are not supposed to be, we will take necessary action to check how they got there.”
She further added that the idea to customize drugs would also help patients in the state to know that the state’s customized drugs are not supposed to be purchased in the open market, adding that, “we are going to embark on awareness and enlightenment campaigns on this.”
Isyaku noted that the Kaduna State drug stores are stocked with quality and affordable products for the good use of the people, adding that, with the contributory health insurance scheme, more people now visit, health facilities across the state, hence the need to increase the stock of drugs.
She further added that the Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai has suggested that the agency should have a framework with manufacturers.
According to her, in compliance with this, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with five drug manufacturing companies in Lagos, adding that, ” we have given them our first delivery worth over three hundred and fifty million Naira, and have received drugs of over two hundred million, which are all in our store. So, all we want now is the patronage of the facilities which will make the recovery of the funds easy.”
She said the agency has decentralized its activities by creating supply stores in all the three senatorial zones and work will soon commence rehabilitating some of them for effective use.
