The Federal Ministry of Health has announced it will provide free medication for certain sections of society, but the expensive and scarce medicine, will the government be able to deliver on its promises?
The Federal Ministry of Health announced on 22nd of December 2009 it’s commitment to maintain free health services for all citizens in the country for next year. Free treatment will include some endemic diseases as well as maternity and child health, with the new policy all children under the age of 5 will receive free treatment and some expensive operations such as Cesarean operations will also be covered by the new policy.
The ministry’s commitment was revealed to the press by Dr Kamal Abdu-Ghadier, The Under Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Abdel Ghadir stated to the press that his ministry is committed to providing full treatment for diseases included in the list for the free treatment.
The policy will also target patients suffering from renal diseases, AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Heart diseases. Ministry of Health says it aim to support poor patients and build up record number of patients benefiting from free medical services; this will be done with the expert assistance of sociologists.
Building such record and the registration of poor patients will help the ministry allocate enough resources to cover their health needs.
On the other hand, this announcement by the ministry faces major obstacles, one of which is the high cost of medicine; another is the scarcity of some medications. The latter was noticeably clear in September 2009, when the Sudanese Kidney Transplant Society, SKTS, warned that more than one thousand and seven hundred patients with Kidney disease suffer from scarcity of kidney medications, and this may endanger the lives of those patients.
The chairman of the SKTS, Abdel Hamid Haj-Hassan, urged the Federal Ministry of Health to make these medicaments available as soon as possible.
The ministry’s support for the treatment of poor patients will be implemented through providing patients with free medicines or health insurance cards.
Concerning the cost of medication for the maternity, and children under five years old, The Federal Health Minister, Dr. Thabita Butros has confirmed that free medication will be available to the above mentioned two sectors. This came during the occasion of the establishment of Children Treatment Centre at Mayo area, which was organized by the Italian Emergency Organization.
Dr. Thabita said the ministry will concentrate on the provision of the free medical services in remote areas in cooperation with a number of organizations operating in the medical fields. Many people are pleased with the new plan, but the question that many are asking is: Will the ministry of Health fulfill its declared commitments next year?
