With ongoing concerns about medicine shortages, the Ministry of Health has launched M-Supply, which is a real-time tracking system designed to monitor the availability of medicines and consumables across all healthcare facilities, down to the nursing stations at the Fiji Pharmaceutical Services Centre.
Speaking during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan, Minister for Health Doctor Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu highlighted that while M-Supply is accessible in all 220 healthcare facilities, its full functionality depends on connectivity.
He described the system as a game-changer in improving medicine availability and timely restocking.
Dr. Lalabalavu says that the supply chain disruptions remain a major issue, which is often beyond the Ministry’s control.
When questioned about shortages of antibiotics, blood test kits, and gynecology test kits, he agrees that certain medicines or consumables are sometimes in low stock or unavailable.
He explained that the Fiji Pharmaceutical Services Centre operates as both a warehouse and a distribution hub, ensuring essential medical supplies reach facilities across the country while regular delivery schedules are in place and life-saving medicines and equipment are prioritized for immediate dispatch when necessary.
To further strengthen supply chain management, the Minister revealed that the government, along with development partners, is planning to establish a warehouse in the Northern Division to improve storage capacity and distribution efficiency.
When asked about how the Ministry is handling shortages, he says the stock-out is not a new issue and under the Free Medicine Scheme, if a government pharmacy runs out of a prescribed medicine, patients can obtain it from private pharmacies.
He says this is an area they believe that can be a substitute for something that they don't have, but nevertheless the aim is always to try and improve that we do not have stock-outs.
He also acknowledged concerns raised by the Fiji Medical Association regarding procurement inefficiencies as currently, every purchase requires three quotes, which can slow down the process.
Dr. Lalabalavu says this system has been in place for some time, and better planning and forecasting are needed to prevent delays.
When asked how are services getting affected in terms of the doctors and nurses, the Minister says this is one of the push factors for doctors and nurses leaving.
He says these doctors and nurses see that if they can’t be treating people with adequate medicine supply, they need to move to somewhere else where they can do that.
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