THE Permanent Secretary (PS) for the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) has assured the general public that his ministry has not run out of funds as some people might speculate.
Doctor Tenneth Dalipanda, made the statement on Sunday at the press conference after the Prime Minister Rick Hou has called for an urgent Caucus meeting, in light of the drug shortage at the National Referral Hospital.
Dr. Dalipanda said there are rumors going around claiming the Ministry might have no funds to place orders for the needed drugs.
But the PS said that is not the fact, as the budget for drugs and consumable is still in place.
He said the shortage of drugs is nothing to do with funds but the ordering or procurement process that takes it much longer.
“Just to assure the public that we don’t run out of funds as some might say because we still have much money to place order for everything we need for 2018,” he said.
The PS said currently they don’t need to seek for any funding or request the cabinet for extra funding as they still have lots of funds available.
When asked on the budget cost, Dr. Dalipanda said usually they worked on $50 million where so far they might only use around $15 million for the drug supplies.
“We still have lots of money where it can cover the whole of the year, including early next year,” he revealed.
By IAN KAUKUI