The Ministry of Health and Social Services has announced that starting this month all mothers discharged from state medical facilities will receive a complimentary three-month supply of baby nappies.
This was said by health executive director Ben Nangombe in a circular to regional health directors, medical superintendents and regional pharmacists, among others.
According to Nangombe, the nappies will come from the Central Medical Store (CMS), which is responsible for the planning, storage and distribution of supplies to regional medical stores.
“After assessing stock levels of baby diapers at CMS, the CMS has noticed that there has been an accumulation of sufficient stock over the years,” he said.
Nangombe said under normal operations, the current stock of nappies available at CMS is sufficient to cover 20 months.
“It is against this background that the Directorate of Pharmaceutical Services wishes to revise guidelines for the provision of baby diapers as follows, that all admitted mothers are to continue receiving baby diapers per currently established protocols and all discharged mothers will be issued a complimentary three-month stock of baby diapers,” he said.
This may be done in consultation with the social workers, he noted.
All mothers who have delivered babies in state hospitals or health facilities and are in need of baby nappies are to be provided with two-months supply, in consultation with social workers, he said.
“This arrangement should only be enforced for the period between September 2023 and September 2024, however, the directorate may reduce the period or halt the exercise should CMS experience a dip in stock holding that cannot sustain this exercise,” Nangombe said.
Should there still be excess stock and a need to continue with this exercise beyond the stated period, the directorate should communicate accordingly, he added.
Nangombe said that CMS management has noted that the current provision of nappies is limited to admitted mothers in health facilities or hospitals.
“It follows that once discharged, the mothers or family go on to assume the responsibility at their own cost. This is understood to be very challenging and often becomes one of the factors that contribute to poor sanitation conditions in our communities,” Nangombe said.
The CMS distributes directly to about 40 health facilities on a six-weekly cycle. This includes 21 out of the 29 district hospitals, four intermediate hospitals, one national tertiary referral hospital and two regional medical stores.
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