The issues regarding the suitability and legality of the Ministry of Health’s drug warehouses have now come to light, as the inspections by the competent authorities continue on the thousands of drug packages affected by the Clean Monday storm, with damages yet to be fully calculated.
The Ministry of Health has emphasised since yesterday that the current priority is to ensure there is no issue with the adequacy of drugs, temporarily putting on hold any investigation that may follow to determine accountability.
Meanwhile, the Health Committee of Parliament will discuss the matter urgently today.
The Audit Service revealed that observations regarding this particular entity began at the Ministry of Health in 2018.
Among other concerns, questions were raised about the legality of the building.
Additionally, the Pharmaceutical Services of the Ministry of Health had submitted a written report in 2019, mentioning, among other issues, the deterioration visible in the warehouse’s false ceiling.
It is recalled that rainwater and hail that hit Nicosia on 18th March entered the drug warehouses through the problematic roof.
This resulted in the destruction of thousands of drug packages, many of which have already been rendered useless, with the inspection process still ongoing.
Yesterday, early in the morning, the Ministry of Health fully confirmed the information published by Phileleftheros concerning the significant drug damage caused by severe weather phenomena.
Moreover, indirectly but clearly, the Ministry acknowledged that this particular facility had been deemed unsuitable for some time. They highlighted that for this reason, the necessary procedures for relocating the pharmaceutical warehouses to another space have been initiated.
The decision of the Ministry of Health for relocation was not unrelated to the observations made by the responsible Department in 2019, namely the Pharmaceutical Services, regarding both the deterioration in the warehouse’s false ceiling and other issues related to the suitability of the storage.
However, following the Pharmaceutical Services’ observations, the pandemic occurred, leading to delays in the relocation procedures.
Subsequently, with the full implementation of the General Health System (GHS) and the operation of the State Health Services Organisation (SHSO), it was decided that drug storage would fall under the jurisdiction of the SHSO and Health Insurance Organisation (HIO), thus eliminating the need for the Ministry of Health to rent a new facility.
As Phileleftheros reported yesterday, the warehouse in question stores specialised drugs provided to patients through the Ministry of Health’s Nominal Requests Committee procedures, specialised treatments received by patients through the GHS and belonging to the SHSO, as well as drugs needed by the HIO for the operation of state hospitals.
As it turns out, the responsibility for drug storage was never transferred to the two semi-governmental organisations, and therefore, the responsibility (with all that entails) for managing the drug warehouse remains with the Ministry of Health.
It is reported that this particular warehouse was rented in 2004 under a contract by the Pharmaceutical Services, which were then responsible for purchasing drugs for state hospitals.
However, the data changed subsequently, and the purchasing responsibility shifted to the Directorate of Purchasing and Supplies of the Ministry of Health, with new contracts signed by the competent authority.
The spokesperson for the Audit Service, Marios Petrides, revealed in statements to the media that reports concerning this particular entity began to be prepared in 2018.
“We had dealt with the issue in a report of the Service in May 2018,” he said, explaining that this specific entity belonged to the category of buildings that the state “rents to a private individual for about €6,000, and the individual sublets it to the state for €135,000.”
According to Petrides, “the contract for this entity had expired on 31/12/12 without a new contract being signed. The main housing agency initially approved the renewal of the contract from 2015 to 2020, with the possibility of extension for two additional two-year periods, provided that the storage space meets all legally required specifications.”
He added that the Audit Service had been informed “since 2018 that the final approval license for the entity had not been issued until then.”
As a Service, he added, “since 28th March, when we were informed about the flood and the destruction of drugs, we sent a letter to the general director of the Ministry of Health asking to be informed about the total amount of damage, as well as the damage suffered by the SHSO, Ministry of Health, and HIO separately, as the warehouse stores drugs for all three entities. We are waiting for answers to see what will happen from now on.”
From the Ministry of Health’s side, statements were made yesterday by the Press Officer, Demetris Konstantinou.
Although he avoided providing specific details, he mentioned that “not all medicines in the warehouse have been destroyed, but there has been significant damage.”
The Ministry of Health, he said, immediately set up a committee to inspect the medicines affected by the water that entered the warehouse, and this process is still ongoing.
Additionally, he added, “continuous efforts are being made to replenish the drug stocks that seem to have been destroyed. The Ministry’s goal is to ensure that there is no shortage of medicines and that patients are not inconvenienced.”
When asked whether the particular facility was suitable for storing medicines, Konstantinou indirectly but clearly admitted that there were known issues, stating, “there is a relocation process for the warehouses, and the relevant procedures have been completed. Unfortunately, we did not manage to relocate before the storm.”
Regarding the possibility of conducting an investigation and the potential attribution of responsibility for the apparent unsuitability of the facility, Konstantinou stated that “first, we will ensure the adequacy of medicines to avoid affecting patients, and then we will study everything else. If responsibilities arise, they will certainly be attributed.”
