<<Print>>

The Minister of Health Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah has asked the National Security to initiate a full scale investigation into the firebreak that burnt the Country�s Central Medical Stores (CMS) at Tema in the early hours of Tuesday. The investigations, which will be done in collaboration with the Ghana National Fire Service, will inform the Ministry the true cause of the fire. Briefing the media in Accra on Wednesday, the Health Minister said anybody found culpable would be made to face the full rigours of the law. The CMS, which render a number of services, forecasts accurately both medicine and non medicine commodity needs of the country to procure supplies in a timely manner and efficiently distribution as well as monitor the utilization of these supplies to minimize wastage in the process. Dr Agyemang-Manu said items destroyed by the inferno were estimated to cost over GHc 237, 798,077.00. Commodities lost included essential medicines, medical consumables, medical equipment, Anti Retroviral medicines and test kits, anti malarial medicines and test kits, TB medicines, Immunization consumables, insecticide bed nets, Ebola Protective Equipment, condoms and relief food items for World Food Programme. He explained that the regional medical stores and hospital facilities had stock that could last for three months and allayed the fears of Ghanaians that the country might run out medical supplies. The Health Minister said the Ministry will be liaising with local pharmaceutical suppliers and international drug supply chain to ship in new consignments and other medical supplies. He appealed to the government as a matter of urgency to insure all the regional medical stores whilst a temporal warehouse would be put up to store supplies that were in transit to supplement the ones at the regional stores. Dr Agyemang-Mensah commended the National Fire Service, the security agencies and the media for the support rendered during the firebreak.