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NMS starts delivering drugs ordered online
National Medical Stores (NMS) has started dispatching to government health facilities medicines ordered online. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Previously, health facilities placed orders of essential medicines and medical supplies using hand-delivered requisition forms to the NMS regional offices or headquarters in Entebbe, which was prone to slow deliveries and poor traceability of orders made.
National Medical Stores (NMS) has started dispatching to government health facilities medicines ordered online.
Health facilities can now place orders using a new online platform dubbed NMS plus, a new digital platform, which aims at improving efficiency and transparency, the NMS spokesperson, Ms Sheila Nduhukire said.
Previously, health facilities placed orders of essential medicines and medical supplies using hand-delivered requisition forms to the NMS regional offices or headquarters in Entebbe, which was prone to slow deliveries and poor traceability of orders made.
“However, on Friday, the first deliveries of medicines ordered online were made to Moroto, Jinja, Mbale, Soroti regional referral hospitals; Kawolo, Buwenge, Kamuli, Masafu,Bududa, and Kayunga general hospitals, as well as to Bududa and Manafwa districts, among others,” Ms Nduhukire said Sunday.
For the first phase, NMS on boarded 278 health facilities; these include; National Referral Hospitals, National Institutes (such as heart institute, Blood Bank etc.), Regional Referral Hospitals, General Hospitals and Health Centre IVs. The second Phase will focus on Health center IIIs & IIs).
“For facilities with challenges in internet connectivity, Government through Ministry of health in collaboration with Ministry of ICT and National Information Technology Authority of Uganda (NITA-U) will provide connectivity to such facilities at no extra cost,” she added.
According to her, the third and final leg of the digitalization process will involve tracking all patients who receive medicines from health facilities in a bid to eliminate drug theft in what has been dubbed as tracking the last mile.
“The last leg of the digitization process will help us know how government medicines are being dispensed and to whom as there will be traceability of who has received these medicines,” she added.
