Deputy Minister of Health, Enoch Phale has said in an interview that this follows revelations that some hospitals are asking patients to buy drugs from private pharmacies and hospitals due to shortages of medical supplies in public facilities.

``As the government, we don’t want to hear that patients are being sent back home without accessing medical treatment. That money we are directly giving the hospitals is meant to ensure that hospitals have medical drugs as they are waiting from Central Medical Stores Trust,” said Phale.

This comes at a time when it has become a tradition for public hospitals to be sending patients without giving them drugs while others have been asking the patients to buy medical drugs from private pharmacies or clinics.

Health Commentator Maziko Matemba has since urged for close monitoring to ensure that the funds are not abused

Said Matemba: ``Government and other stakeholders like civil society organizations should guard against abuse of the relief funds following continued reports of abuse of resources in public institutions.”

The essential drugs that usually run out quickly in public hospitals are for malaria and also pain killers.