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By Madu Obi
AN international donor agency, The Global Fund, is supporting the upgrade of 22 state pharmaceutical warehouses in Nigeria to ensure proper storage of drugs and other medicaments.
Three of the warehouses are located in Anambra, Enugu and Imo states in the Enugu Field Office of the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, which is coordinating the technical construction of the multi million naira warehouses.
Contract for the construction of the Anambra warehouse has been signed in Awka and, according to the Acting Chief of Enugu Field Office of UNICEF, Dr. Olusoji Akinleye, the project will be completed in four months.
Akinleye, who is also a health specialist at UNICEF, explained during the handover of the site to the contractors in Awka, that the principal recipient for the Global Fund grant is National TB and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP).
Other collaborating government partners, he added, include National Product Supply Chain Management Programme (NPSCMP), National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), National Primary Health Care Development Agency and Department of Health Planning, Research and Statistics (DHPRS) of the Federal Ministry of Health.
Akinleye said: " The contract is for the upgrade of the Anambra State Central Medical Store because the store, as it is presently, cannot adequately serve the purpose.
"Thanks to the Global Fund, the grant was given to upgrade the 22 state medical warehouses and Anambra happens to be one of the beneficiaries.
"In each of the states, we are partnering with the state Ministries of Health, through the Directors of Pharmaceutical Services.
" We have qualified Engineers recruited by UNICEF who will deliver the project within four months.
"We are proud to be associated with Global Fund and the Federal and State Ministries of Health."According to him, Anambra State will be contributing about 15% of the cost of the project, which is put at between N600 million and N700 million.
Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike commended Global Fund for the intervention, adding that it would translate to having all drugs belonging to the state properly stored.
Obidike said: "The potency of drugs is determined by the way it is stored and Anambra State will benefit immensely from this project because it will help us to have Drug Management Agency.
"Once the building is in place, we can be procuring drugs directly from manufacturers at the cheapest cost. When the project is completed, we will also have in this premises, quality drug assurance laboratory."
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