The Ministry of Health is spearheading a digital transformation in Uganda’s healthcare sector aimed at addressing chronic challenges of drug theft, wastage, and stockouts.
Through a real-time tracking system, officials hope to monitor the movement of medicines and medical supplies from manufacturers to patients.
The initiative comes amid persistent public outcry over the lack of drugs and essential medical equipment in health facilities, often soon after deliveries are made.
These shortages, which continue to plague Uganda’s healthcare system, are largely attributed to theft, poor distribution, expiry, and inadequate infrastructure for storage.
“The health sector is increasingly unaffordable for many Ugandans, pushing them to private facilities whose costs they often cannot meet,” said Isaac Masumba, president of the Uganda Pharmacy Students’ Association.
“This creates a major gap between those who can afford care and those who cannot. The latter often pay with their lives.”
The shortage of essential medicines has also led to severe overcrowding in regional and national referral hospitals, as patients seek care where supplies are more likely to be available.
To tackle this crisis, the Ministry of Health is developing digital tools to monitor medical supplies at every stage.
One of the main technologies under consideration is the Global Standards One (GS1) system, which assigns unique QR codes to medicines for tracking.
“We want to bring in a system called Global Standards One (GS1), whereby we are able to track medicines right from the manufacturer up to the user. As of now, we are at the warehouse level,” said Dr. Martha Grace Ajulong, commissioner of Health Services, Pharmaceuticals and Natural Products, during the 5th Uganda Pharmaceutical Symposium in Bushenyi.
She said the goal is to extend this tracking to individual health facilities and ultimately to the patients themselves.
“Using this system, we shall be able to scan QR codes on each medicine. In the near future, the apps we are developing will help identify which patient took which medicine. This will drastically reduce drug theft and wastage,” Dr. Ajulong added.
Officials say the initiative aligns with Uganda’s broader objective of achieving Universal Health Coverage, which includes making essential services more accessible to all citizens.
As the ministry pushes forward with these reforms, pharmacists are urging for additional support—especially around clinical trials for local pharmaceutical innovations.
“So far, most of the drugs developed by our pharmacists are undergoing tests. But we’re asking the government to expedite support so that these products can fill gaps when stockouts occur,” Masumba said.
Dr. Nuru Mugide, Patron of the Uganda Pharmaceutical Symposium, called on pharmacists to invest in research and innovation.
“By embracing research and innovation, future pharmacists will be empowered to provide patient-centered care, improve healthcare outcomes, and drive progress toward universal health coverage,” he said.
With increasing reliance on digital solutions, officials believe a more accountable and responsive healthcare supply chain is within reach.