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The Democratic Alliance (DA) submitted questions to the MEC of Health in the Free State, Ms Montseng Tsiu, in the Legislature after receiving complaints from the public regarding shortages of life sustaining medication such as diabetes and hypertension medication at clinics. In her replies, the MEC confirmed the existence of such shortages with the following reasons:
- The companies were not able to deliver;
- Companies were delaying in the delivering of medication;
- Clinics are procuring medication from the Medical Depot in Bloemfontein and they were not able to fulfil the orders due to unavailability of stock nationwide;
- The supplier could not meet the demands as ordered due to unavailability; and
- All outstanding orders were cancelled with the transition of the new financial year and new orders had to be placed.
The DA has been emphasising this serious problem for the past 6 years. It appears that the sporadic shortages of medication have become the new normal in the Free State and are not taken seriously by the provincial government.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) persons with comorbidities, especially cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension are at a higher risk of mortality when contracting Covid-19.
The administrative incompetence of the Department of Health continuously leads to the lack of life sustaining medication at state health institutions and is placing persons with comorbidities at a higher risk of death.
The MEC must take personal responsibility for the unnecessary additional deaths that will take place because of her callous attitude. The DA regards the provincial Health Department’s attitude to the lives of patients as culpable homicide.
The DA will continue to monitor the shortages of medication at our health institutions and tirelessly expose and interrogate the MEC both inside and outside of the Legislature in our fight for the rights of Free Staters to decent healthcare.