By Flavia Nassaka
Private health providers want the Ministry of Health to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturers on their behalf, Grace Ssali Kiwanuka, the Executive Director Uganda Healthcare Federation (UHF) said in an interview noting that they have also asked the ministry to allow them store the vaccines at the National Medical Stores (NMS) once they arrive considering that many private providers have no capacity to safely store these medicines.
“We have a limited number of manufacturers for these vaccines and they range in price from for $4 per dose to up to $80. With such prices ranges, it means if you can’t afford you can’t access the vaccines. This is what we want to avoid by going through the ministry and then we will also be assured that we are not buying water”.
Kiwanuka explains that they chose that path considering the fact governments and entities like the COVAX facility have better bargaining power and can access the much sought after drug easily.
This development comes amidst a rush for vaccines as it’s being mooted as the only game changer towards the first against COVID-19 that will save the country from the feared third wave that projections by the National Planning Authority (NPA) show is only weeks away.
According to the predictions, if Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are not followed, within 28 days new cases will average at about 500 cases per day with a weekly average of around 2,000 and yet recently with the lockdown cases had fallen to less than 200 each day. For instance according to latest results from tests done on the 3rd of August, only 165 people tested positive from 3649 tests conducted.
As a result of fear of the anticipated spike, Ministry of Health is seeking more 9million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines procured through the pool purchasing entity of the African Union to enable them to get more of their targeted 21.9million Ugandans for vaccination are reached.
So far, the country has vaccinated less than 1.2million people where majority have only had the first dose. Kiwanuka says the reason the federation is pushing for involvement is to help the country quickly reach considerable vaccination levels such that people are guaranteed of protection against severe disease with the coming waves.
“We know that when the vaccines come they are safely stored by the National Medical Stores and safely transported to administration units. In fact the Ministry of Health has said if you people want us to give you government personnel to administer these vaccines we will avail them”, she said adding that already three members of the Federation have expressed interest in procuring the vaccines whereas some others have gone through the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda.
Kathryn Lindoha Musoke, the Public Relation Manager tells URN that by Thursday morning, companies including Coca Cola, Uganda Breweries, safe Boda and the business community under Kampala City Traders Association had expressed interest in participating in the pool procurement of the vaccines.
At the Ministry of Health, Dr. Timothy Musila, an Assistant Commissioner in charge of Public Private Partnerships says they have come up with a framework to guide them on how to safely and effectively access the drug.
However, the ministry has been slow on admitting private providers into the vaccination programme with fears of counterfeiting the drug by unscrupulous dealers with the aim of profiteering since already the country has recorded a case where employees of some private companies were injected with water at a fee.
At a recent COVID-19 update to the nation, Health Minister, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng said vaccine manufacturers are reluctant to deal with private agents but added that they were talking to the medical councils to finalise on the modalities to do with regulating pricing of vaccines once the price providers are allowed.
For now, according to Kiwanuka, the only thing holding them now are the access hurdles on the global scene since manufacturers have only a limited number of doses which too have been pre-ordered.
Like the government, private providers are also looking at procuring AstraZeneca jabs. Meanwhile, the country is also awaiting to receive some 640,000 Pfizer doses donation from the US this month.
