By THANDIWE MOYO –
THE Ministry of Health has shut down the private pharmacy at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka and ordered closure of all private chemists operating within public health institutions countrywide.
A check at the hospital found the drug store, owned by Ridgeway Pharmaceuticals shut.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Kennedy Malama said the move to close the pharmacy was part of measures being taken by the ministry to ensure essential medicines were available within the hospitals and clinicsand  to increase the level of service provision all around..
Dr Malama said the arrangement under which private pharmacies were allowed to operate inside public hospitals or clinics needed to be discourages. Government would make sure that all medicines were available in public health institutions.
“We have made a decision to discourage private pharmacies in our public health institutions to ensure there is an improvement in availability of medicine within the institutions,” he said.
It is often the case that while the pharmacies managed by government hospitals and clinics may run out of drugs, the private chemists allowed to operate from rented premises within are well-stocked, with the medicines exhorbitantly priced.
Dr Malamasaid Government was determined to strengthen operations in all public health institutions, including ensuring that pharmacies had all the needed drugs to serve the public.
Meanwhile, a check by Sunday Times found the (UTH) private pharmacy that operated within the hospital closed.
It was closed last week by ministry officials.