The Auditor General, Edward Akol has revealed that the Ministry of Health (MoH) destroyed COVID-19 vaccines, ARVs, and test kits valued at Shs316.65 billion during the 2023/24 fiscal year.
The revelation was made on Wednesday as Akol submitted the annual Auditor General’s report for 2023/24 to the Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa.
Akol highlighted that this year's figure marks a significant increase from the Shs33 billion worth of medical supplies destroyed in the previous year, 2022/23.
“In the health sector, there are substantial challenges of expiration of medical supplies. Government had to write off Shs316.65Bn worth of COVID-19 vaccines, ARVs and test kits an increase from last year’s Shs33Bn," Akol said.
He added, "represents a significant waste of resources that could have served other pressing healthcare needs," he said.
The COVID-19 vaccines were accumulated during the pandemic that affected the world from January 2020 through 2022.
However, since 2023, there has been increased stock pileup and expiry of the vaccines, something attributed to declining demand.
Moreover, the COVID vaccines have faced opposition from certain groups of anti-vaxxers globally.
Meanwhile, the Auditor General urged for immediate action to address the human resource challenges within Uganda's healthcare system.
He revealed that Mulago National Referral Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is operating with only 15 out of 27 beds, which is just 56% of its capacity, due to a shortage of staff.
“Critical equipment remains unutilized in several hospitals because of lack of trained personnel to operate them. The health infrastructure department of the Ministry of Health requires Shs20Bn annually for equipment maintenance but receives only Shs1.8Bn,” Akol noted.
