Critical medicines needed to care for sick newborns are out of stock at Uganda’s National Medical Stores, raising concerns about the ability of health facilities to provide timely care to vulnerable babies.
The Aug. 14, 2026, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health commodity stock-status report says essential newborn commodities, including caffeine citrate, surfactant and rectal diazepam, are currently unavailable at NMS. The report calls for urgent restocking.
The shortages come alongside wider gaps in the supply of maternal and child health commodities at health facilities.
The report found that 51.5% of health facilities surveyed had no Mama Kits, which contain basic supplies needed for safe delivery. Another 30% of facilities were understocked, meaning more than 80% of facilities surveyed were either out of stock or had insufficient supplies.
Measles-rubella vaccines were also unavailable at 33.7% of facilities, while another 56.4% were understocked, according to the report.
The stock shortages are occurring despite some commodities being available in excess at other facilities. For example, 48.6% of facilities reported being overstocked with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, while 38.6% had excess misoprostol and 30% had excess injectable contraceptives.
Health officials are encouraging facilities to redistribute commodities between facilities where possible, moving supplies from areas with excess stock to those reporting shortages.
They are also being urged to use the Online Facility Stock Status Report to provide real-time information on commodity availability and help authorities identify where supplies are most urgently needed.
The report directs facilities facing shortages of critical newborn commodities to contact National Medical Stores to prioritise restocking. However, it does not give specific dates for when new supplies of caffeine citrate, surfactant or the other affected newborn commodities will arrive.
The findings highlight a wider challenge in Uganda’s health commodity supply chain: medicines may be available somewhere in the system while other facilities face shortages.
The Ministry of Health is therefore pushing for better redistribution and monitoring to close those gaps before shortages at individual facilities translate into missed or delayed care.
