Expired drugs worth N200m destroyed in Benue, govt to bury 100 unclaimed corpses
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Expired drugs worth over N200 million was Friday, set ablaze by the State Government in Benue after being stored without use for several years.
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The clean up exercise which was carried out within the premises of the State University Teaching Hospital, BSUTH, located along Gboko road, Makurdi, had the Chief Medical Director of BSUTH, Stephen Hwande, other state government officials and media professionals in attendance.
Recall that the Chief Medical Director, CMD, had on Wednesday disclosed his intention to destroy the expired drugs which he said were stored at Muhammad Buhari Mother and Child Hospital stores in the capital city.
According to the CMD who spoke with journalists in the course of the clean up, the expired drugs were earlier procured for the Teaching Hospital’s use but were not utilized untill they got expired because as at they time when they were bought, they already had short dates.
Dr Hwande said, “These are drugs acquired by the hospital to be used by the hospital for the patients. So why did they abandon the drugs to the point of expiration, no one can say.
“When you get drugs with short dates, you can convey some of these drugs to other hospitals for instance, we have Internally Displaced Persons camps you can give them, hospitals and you can even do medical outreach with the drugs before they expire.
“There is no reason you should have drugs worth this amount of money expiring in this hospital when the whole state needs drugs. To keep our record straight because sometimes people may even go to the store and still use them so we decided to destroy the drugs.”
Asked what types of drugs were destroyed, the CMD said, “Every kind of drugs, antibiotics, anti-hypertensive, anti-malaria including consumables like iodine, bandages, urine bags, everything this can form a big pharmacy in Makurdi.”
The CMD further said that unclaimed 100 corpses were in the hospital morgue, adding that the hospital had written to the State Commissioner of Police to grant permission to dispose of the corpses.
He said, “On assumption of office, I went round the stores and I discovered drugs worth over N200 million and consumables in the stores. I also discovered over 100 unclaimed corpses in the morgue.”
Meanwhile, this is coming barely a week after the Benue State university Teaching Hospital took over the Muhammad Buhari Mother and Child Hospital following Dr Hwande’s appointment as CMD.
At the ceremony which took place last week, Dr Stephen Hwande who had earlier inspected facilities at the clinic promised to provide quality and affordable medical services to Benue residents stating that the hospital would particularly provide full In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), paediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology services, well as minor surgeries.
He said, ”Going forward collection of antenatal and cards for children under-five in the hospital will be free.
”Though the primary role of this hospital is to offer tertiary health services, it will, however, supervise and assist secondary and primary healthcare facilities to improve service delivery in the state.”
Moreso, Dr Hwande said Gov. Hyacinth Alia of the state was desirous of a healthy citizenry, adding that measures were put in place toward ensuring that all healthcare facilities in the state get a face lift.
The Muhammad Buhari Mother and Child Hospital was constructed by the Federal Government and was later donated to the state in 2021.
According to media reports, the 120-bed capacity hospital was built by the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs) under the 2021 Sustainable Project.
Meanwhile, Dr. Luper Uva who is the hospital’s Coordinator said the facility was initially built to serve only women and children.
Dr Uva stated that the general out patients department was later added to provide general services.
He however commended the CMD for ensuring that the hospital operates an electronic medical record system, adding that the move would bring about efficient delivery.
“We have solar systems with uninterrupted power supply, water systems and other facilities”, he said.
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