Uganda faces a significant loss as more than 5.6 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, bought with a World Bank loan, have expired, amounting to around 28.1 billion Ugandan shillings ($7.3 million; £5.8 million).
Alongside this, an audit report revealed that additional drugs worth $8.6 million, primarily HIV antiretroviral drugs, expired due to changes in recommended treatment guidelines by the WHO.
Uganda’s Auditor General, John Muwanga, submitted the report to parliament, outlining the expiration of vaccines and medicines.
Authorities plan to withdraw the expired vaccines from health facilities for destruction.
Moses Kamabare, head of Uganda’s drug procurement agency, highlighted the concerning situation regarding the Covid vaccines.
He expressed, “The demand for Covid vaccines is now at zero. We no longer receive any Covid vaccine orders”.
“If we don’t have any people that need or health facilities requisitioning for these Covid vaccines, we expect more Covid vaccines to expire on us.”
The reported losses from expired Covid vaccines are expected to surpass $78 million by the year’s end, reflecting a substantial financial setback for the Ugandan government.
Source-BBC
