#Lack #communication #hinders #efficient #distribution #medicines #vaccines #SUS #network #National #Newspaper
Lack of communication hinders more efficient distribution of medicines and vaccines across the SUS network
The lack of more integrated communication between federal governmentstates and municipalities is preventing the efficient distribution of medicines and vaccines through the healthcare network THEIR and compromising patient treatment.
At the City Hall pharmacy São Joaquim de BicasClose of Belo Horizontea contraceptive provided by the Ministry of Health was out of stock between November and December last year.
“We always try to intervene in a positive way, go to the prescriber, try some alternative exchange, so that the patient is not left without assistance”, says Joyce Nascimento, technical manager at São Joaquim de Bicas.
O Ministry of Health incinerated thousands of this same medicine last year, because they were expired or close to their expiration date. O National Newspaper obtained the data through the Access to Information Law.
Since 2015, the federal government has lost more than R$2 billion with unused inputs, more than half in 2023 alone.
1 of 2 Since 2015, the federal government has lost more than R$2 billion with unused inputs, more than half in 2023 alone — Photo: JN Since 2015, the federal government has lost more than R$2 billion with unused inputs, more than half only in 2023 — Photo: JN
According to the Ministry of Health, the pandemic ended up impacting any planning for the use of medicines.
“There was a reduction in several programs, right? People stopped going to health services because we were in a pandemic and that was the guidance – guidance that was correct at that time -, but all services were focused on Covid care This also impacted a series of control of various diseases”, highlights Ethel Maciel, Secretary of Health Surveillance at the ministry.
Em Teresina, a woman, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that the family had to buy morphine to alleviate the symptoms of her brother, who died last month from a serious leg infection. According to her, the painkiller was missing at the emergency hospital in the capital of Piauí.
“Only God knows what he was going through, the pain he was feeling. And our pain too, seeing that situation”, he recalls.
The morphine that was missing in Teresina is also on the list of incinerated medicines.
The Ministry of Health sends the medicines to the states, which store them in warehouses, and are then distributed to the municipalities. To avoid waste, public health experts say that it is necessary to improve communication between stocks to improve the purchasing and relocation processes, for example, of a medicine that is in excess in a given city to serve another where it is in short supply.
2 of 2 The Ministry of Health sends medicines to the states, which store them in warehouses — Photo: JN The Ministry of Health sends medicines to the states, which store them in warehouses — Photo: JN
Master in public health Ricardo de Souza defends a more integrated dialogue between the federal government, states and municipalities, in the division of responsibilities:
“When I have a city close to another, the SUS network system really works as a network, it was designed to work as a network – so you have the health macro-regions, the health micro-regions, you have the states. There should be exchanges more information. Look, I have a medicine to win. This exists today, but it still exists in an informal way. medications that could effectively be changed”.
Laíse Macedo, superintendent of health infrastructure and logistics in Minas Gerais, manages the distribution of 37 million tablets and ampoules per month to the 853 municipalities in Minas Gerais, and she states that this lack of communication makes it even more difficult to assess the demands of each city .
“I see that there is a long way to go before we can see this stock from end to end. In the case of the ministry, which delivers these medicines to us, it cannot see our stock, the state cannot see the municipality’s stock, because there is no integrated system”, he highlights.
The Ministry of Health said that it is creating a system that interconnects information from the entire chain – federal, state and municipal governments – and that it has set up a working group to analyze the volume and validity of medicines purchased by the previous administration.
“What we were able to do is understand the stock, see the expiration date, the expiration date of the products, and work to minimize losses of what was possible. That was our action. At this moment, the Ministry of Health is working on a system of information so that we can follow the product’s entire journey until it reaches the end user, who are the people who use our Unified Health System”, says Ethel Maciel.
