The Yobe Drug and Medical Consumables Management Agency (YODMA) says it expends N300 million annually on its free drug programme.

The agency’s executive secretary, Abdulazeez Mohammed, stated this at a news conference on Tuesday in Damaturu.

According to him, the programme targets the poorest of the poor who cannot afford the drug.

He said from 2020 to date, the agency has rolled out drug reagents and medical consumables revolving funds in 336 primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities across the state.

The measure, he said, drastically addressed the shortage of the drugs in its stock, representing 8.4 per cent in 2022 as against 12.24 per cent in 2021.

The executive secretary said the agency had engaged 12 pharmacists and two pharmacy technicians to fast-track the implementation of its mandate.

He said the agency also inaugurated a zonal warehouse in Postiskum, renovated and equipped a central medical store in Damaturu and two other zonal warehouses in Gashua and Nguru.

Mr Mohammed listed other achievements, such as adopting the national blueprint for supply chain management and establishing M-supply electronic software for inventory management.

Others were procuring two operational vehicles and public-private partnership agreements with a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group to provide drugs at a distributor price with flexible payment terms. 

(NAN)