06 Aug 2026

The Ministry of Health says it has not established a direct causal relationship between medicine shortages and mortality at referral and main hospitals, based on available evidence.

Assistant Minister of Health Mr Lawrence Ookeditse told Parliament on Tuesday that while shortages can create pressure on services, patient outcomes are shaped by several factors working together.

”This distinction is very important because mortality in hospital settings is rarely the result of a single factor,” Mr Ookeditse said.

He explained that clinical governance reviews found that medicine availability, diagnostic capacity, infection prevention and control, timely referral, and the severity of illness at admission all interact to influence results.

According to Mr Ookeditse, many patients arrive with advanced disease and multiple co-morbidities. Outcomes then depend on the combined effect of clinical condition, timing of treatment, availability of medicines and diagnostics, critical care capacity, and broader health system performance.

”While the ministry has not established medicine shortages as the direct cause of mortality, we fully acknowledge that shortages can increase clinical risk and place significant pressure on service delivery,” he said.

The assistant minister acknowledged that shortages of certain medicines had occurred in recent months. 

He added that the ministry monitors mortality routinely through hospital reporting systems, multi-disciplinary mortality review meetings, and other clinical governance mechanisms.

To improve patient outcomes, the ministry is working to strengthen the entire health system. 

Interventions under way include improving medicine availability, procurement processes, laboratory diagnostic capacity, referral systems, inventory management, and hospital clinical governance.

Mr Ookeditse said these steps would collectively improve the reliability of care and reduce preventable risks to patients. 

The ministry will also continue to monitor medicine availability closely and implement interventions to minimise any adverse impact on healthcare delivery.

He was responding to a question from Bobirwa MP Mr Taolo Lucas, who asked about the effect of medicine shortages in the country on mortality numbers in referral and main hospitals. ENDS