Shortage of essential drugs in Zambia's rural health facilities impacts negatively on mothers.

21 March 2023

By Emmanuel Chama Mulenga

A 30-year-old mother in Kasama, Northern Zambia, has called on the Ministry of Health to expedite the process of stocking enough cerebral palsy drugs in rural health facilities to help avert children’s deaths.

Astecy Chilongo, a mother to a three-year-old girl, who at the time was vomiting blood, bemoaned the shortage of one of the essential drugs called phenobarbitone, which is critical in treating the condition.

She has called on the government to prioritize stocking the drug as it was now a matter of urgency.

She recalls going to the general hospital when her child was sick but to her surprise, was told that there were no drugs available at the hospital and was instead asked to buy from a private pharmacy.

“It is disheartening to see children suffering simply because there are no drugs in hospitals,” Astecy said.

“As a mother, I feel so bad to see a child suffering in that manner. It is sad to see children going through such pain."

In her line of work as a social worker, she recalls how a five-year-old girl suffering from cerebral palsy died in early 2022 at a general hospital after failing to access phenobarbital.

“The family was asked to buy the medicine at a private pharmacy and unfortunately the only reliable pharmacy in the area did not have drugs and the family lost the girl,” she lamented.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that affect a person's ability to move and maintain balance and posture. It is due to abnormal brain development, often before birth.

Symptoms include exaggerated reflexes, floppy or rigid limbs and involuntary motions. These appear by early childhood.

One of the drugs used to treat cerebral palsy is Phenobarbital. It is prescribed medicine used to treat and prevent the symptoms of seizures, sedation, hypnotics, Insomnia and Status Epilepticus.

She said that everyone had the right to quality health, an aspect that should be taken seriously by the government by ensuring that hospitals remain well stocked with all essential drugs.

“It is the duty of the government to provide for its citizens, especially the vulnerable people. Despite the debts that the country has, the government should prioritize the health of the people,” she said.

Astecy observed that the young single mothers in rural areas were the ones who were feeling the pinch of the shortage of drugs as they do not have money to buy such expensive drugs from private pharmacies.

“Now how many people can manage to buy such expensive drugs on a monthly basis in a rural place like this one?" She asked.

A course of phenobarbital in private pharmacies costs about US$12.31 (Two hundred and fifty kwacha) per month and is deemed to be very expensive by most Zambian people living below the poverty datum line.

For almost two years now, a critical shortage of essential drugs has hit most of the health facilities in Zambia, a situation which has disadvantaged a lot of Zambian people especially the underprivileged in rural areas. Zambia imports its drug supplies mostly from India.

But Northern Province Minister Leonard Mbao, speaking on a local Radio station in Kasama attributed the shortage of drugs in hospitals to selfish middlemen whom he called the cartel.

He said the cartel was making it difficult for the government to stock enough medicines in local hospitals because their prices were too high.

“It is difficult to break these cartels, but the government is working round the clock to dismantle them. With the existence of the cartels, it is only them who can supply drugs to the government, as such competition is nonexistent causing the government to buy drugs at exorbitant prices,” Mr. Mbao explained.

He said, according to the national data the country was at 60 per cent level of drug stocks adding that this was not good enough.

“Our intention is to reach 100 percent of drug stocks so that clinics and hospitals can have enough drugs, but it is not easy. As a government we are hoping that we can empower the local pharmaceuticals to produce drugs to help reduce shortages, “He added.