Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stressed the importance of maintaining adequate strategic stocks of medicines and medical supplies at hospitals nationwide, particularly amid global supply chains disruptions caused by political and regional developments.
Prime Minister Madbouly made these remarks during a meeting he called on Wednesday to review the availability of medicines and medical supplies at hospitals operated by the Ministry of Health and Population and university hospitals under the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
The prime minister said the state has allocated around LE90 billion in the current fiscal year’s budget to secure medicines and various medical supplies, underscoring the need to maintain adequate stock levels and ensure the regular supply of essential medical needs.
He also highlighted the role of the Unified Procurement Authority in operating an integrated system for the storage, distribution and supply of medicines and medical supplies, helping ensure their sustainable availability across the health sector.
Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said stocks of medicines and medical supplies at the Ministry of Health hospitals were currently at reassuring levels.
During the meeting, Chairman of the Unified Procurement Authority Hisham Stiet reviewed the authority’s efforts to boost the governance and management of medicine and medical-supply chains and inventories.
Stiet said the authority was implementing an integrated system to establish an accurate and reliable national database of medical stocks, which supports planning, decision-making and the efficient allocation of resources.
The system has become a national tool for monitoring performance and improving the management of health resources, helping ensure the availability of medicines and supplies, reduce waste and support data-driven decisions based on unified and measurable information, he added.
The system currently serves around 38,000 healthcare workers, who use it to monitor procurement, supply, inventory and delivery procedures. It also covers around 11,000 medical facilities, enabling them to track requirements, stock levels, consumption and the movement of medical items across the health sector.
