It has been emphasized that the lost glory of the Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA), is gradually being restored with the current leadership of the Agency.
The Kano State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, disclosed this while chairing the maiden quarterly review meeting of the DMCSA.
Dr. Labaran appreciated the fact that the performance of the leadership must be lauded because within six months services of the Agency have completely changed from bad to better.
He elatedly revealed that within the shortest period, the DMCSA has moved out from bankruptcy of minus N102,238,600.59 million fund value it inherited from the previous leadership to plus N19,999,941.12 million.
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“This is something worthy of commendation. Another milestone is that the DMCSA has now made our facilities to become 80% of drugs available as against the 30% in the previous time. Joyfully is the fact that the success has been recorded in a situation where our currency is losing value by the day.
“I would like to sincerely thank the management of the DMCSA, especially its Director General; a person with high profile of courage, dedication, and integrity. We hoped that you would continue with the good job that you have started”, said Dr. Labaran.
He stressed that he was optimistic that in the next quarter, better results would emerge, and solicited prayers for the Naira to have good value and market to stabilize for the economy of the country to thrive.
Earlier speaking, the DG of the DMCSA, Pharmacist Ghali Sule, congratulated Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf for starting the activity during their tenure, saying that the activity is aimed at showcasing what the Agency is all about.
Pharmacist Ghali said that when they came on board, the Commissioner constituted a committee that established the baseline for their operations, lamenting that the baseline showed that the government had inherited DMCSA in bankruptcy and from that time to the end of December last year they have done series of activities aimed at stabilizing the Agency.
He maintained that the main purpose of the review meeting is to see what has transpired from the time they took over to the end of December last year, stressing that the Agency, being the hub for the supply chain of commodities, has to conduct the activity because there were lots of stakeholders that are supporting it and for many years of existence of the DMCSA nobody knows how it is operating.
The DG assured that they would be conducting such activity every quarter so that stakeholders would vividly see what they were doing at the Agency, hoping that this would serve as an activity that would improve the supply chain of commodities across the state.
He lamentably informed the gathering that the Agency has four zonal warehouses and central stores but there was no accountability framework at all the stores, adding that handing and taking over of activities are done without knowing what was there or what has been issued out.
Giving the overview of the 2023 tender and DRF operations at the central medical store, the Director of Drugs and Supply of the Agency, Pharm. Tukur Ibrahim gave detailed explanations on how they were able to arrive at this tremendous success from bankruptcy to a thriving and prosperous DMCSA.
He attributed the success to the dexterity and political will of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf in ensuring the health sector is improved at all levels, coupled with the professional advice of Dr. Labaran in building their confidence whenever they approach him on one issue or the other.
Signed:
Ibrahim Abdullahi
Information Officer
Ministry of Health
5 February 2024