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Theft of medicine in the Eastern Cape must be investigated

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The IFP calls on the minister of Health to urgently investigate the allegations involving doctors who are said to be stealing medicine meant for hospitals, selling them to a Nigerian national who uses them to manufacture drugs and also some for their private surgeries.

IFP spokesperson on Health, MP Hilda Msweli said “Doctors who are involved in stealing medication from the Mthatha depot, as well as hospitals, are known by both the police and the Hawks but no action has been taken. It is very concerning that it has taken so long for police to make an arrest”

Medical deliveries are bypassing the hospitals and go straight to a farm where they are kept, of which the owner is unknown.

“Those involved in managing the depot must be the first to be questioned and if found to be involved should be arrested. The state is not only losing millions, the health sector is suffering tremendously, especially the poor who need these drugs. The investigation must also be extended to other provincial hospitals,” said Msweli.

The Health Professions Council of South Africa should make sure that licences for doctors implicated in these actions are scrapped. The Hawks must also speed up the process of arresting these criminals.

Mrs Hilda Msweli
IFP Spokesperson on Health

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