Since 2019, the Ministry of Health’s drug warehouse has known problems with its roof, according to a note prepared at that time by the pharmaceutical services of the Ministry of Health following an inspection.
Reading the said note in Parliament, the director of pharmaceutical services, Elena Panagiotopoulou, mentioned, among other things, that during the inspection it was found that the roof of the facility had cracks and issues “which were such that they would allow rainwater to enter the warehouse.”
The note also refers to a lack of a temperature monitoring system, disorder, unprotected areas, entrances through which there was uncontrolled access, and so on.
It is reminded that in the Ministry of Health’s drug warehouse, specialised medicines are stored on behalf of the Health Insurance Organisation and the State Health Services Organisation, as well as medications administered to patients through the procedures of the Named Patient Commission.
Thousands of medications that were in the warehouse were destroyed after the storm that hit Nicosia on March 18. Since 2019, anagiotopoulou said, no other inspection was carried out as there was no invitation (as stipulated by legislation) from the competent Authority. “If we had gone later and they had not complied with our guidelines, we would have had to call the Police and close the warehouses.”
The director of pharmaceutical services also indicated that during the pandemic, “not a few Health Ministers visited the warehouses and held meetings to present the vaccines.”
The session continues.warehouse. roof problems, drug warehouse, inspections
