Health and Wellness
With regard to chronic medication shortages:
(a) What measures are she and her Department implementing to ensure that all clinics maintain sufficient stock levels of chronic medication and (b) how is her Department addressing supply chain challenges to prevent future shortages?
(a)(b) The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness uses a combination of robust monitoring systems and proactive engagements to reduce the risk of chronic medication shortages. The department works to ensure that provincial targets for medicine availability are consistently met. However, it must be noted that ongoing national shortages have constrained supply across every province.
To safeguard stock level for chronic medication and address supply chain challenges, the Department has implemented the following measures:
- Strict supplier oversight: Supplier performance is monitored closely, and contracts are enforced rigorously. Penalties are applied for late, incomplete or missed deliveries.
- Rapid escalation: Persistent supply‑chain problems are escalated to the National Department of Health (NDoH) without delay, and we continually request NDoH intervention with under‑performing suppliers.
- Global sourcing when necessary: Where essential medicines are unobtainable locally, we request the NDoH to submit Section 21 applications (per the Medicine and Related Substances Act) to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority for authorisation for the provinces to gain access from the global supply.
- Clinic collaboration: Clinicians and pharmacologists meet regularly to agree on safe alternatives or substitutions. the outcomes are issued in departmental circulars and referred to the National Essential Medicines List Committee for further review.
- Transparent reporting: Each week, comprehensive stock‑out reports are circulated to district managers, clinicians and pharmacy managers, listing shortages together with approved alternatives.
- Equitable stock distribution: When a medicine is in short supply, the Central Medical Depot (CMD) apportions limited stock so that smaller consignments can be distributed equitably across the province, and it runs an early‑warning system that flags orders due, quantities expected and any risk of delay. Suppliers are followed up proactively before the stockout are experienced.
- District-level agility: District pharmacies operate their own early‑warning systems, and electronic stock‑level reports are used to re‑allocate medicines swiftly within each district or sub‑structure when pressure points emerge.
