South Sudan to Import Medical Gloves from Uganda
Juba/Kampala | Health – As an alternative to the shortage of examination and surgical gloves in their hospitals, and logistical challenges incurred in importing them from Europe and Asia, the government of South Sudan is set to begin importing gloves from Uganda’s East African Medical Vitals Limited.
This was revealed last week on Tuesday by the delegation from the Ministry of health from South Sudan during a visit of the company at Namanve Industrial Business Park in Mukono.
Dr. Victoria Anib Majur; the Under Secretary Ministry of Health from South Sudan and head of the delegation in her remarks said that she feels proud being an East African and knowing that one of its member state has reached this kind of achievement because it will also benefit other member states.
“I believe that the ministry of health of South Sudan will join hands in partnering with East African Medical vitals and in future will have more partnerships in different areas,” She said.
Dr Charles Clement; another member of the delegation from South Sudan said that he was impressed by the quality of the gloves being produced by the company and that they will sit down with the ministry of health in their country to see how they can outsource the examination and surgical gloves from Uganda. He also said that the price being offered by the company to them is more reasonable and logistically cheaper compared to importing from China
Solomon Onen, the manager of good manufacturing practices from the National Drug Authority (NDA) lauded the government of South Sudan for supporting initiatives within the East African region.
He said that NDA’s journey with East African Medical Vitals started five years ago after the company expressed an interest in setting up a glove manufacturing industry in Uganda. One said that the Authority has walked hand in hand with the company from the time they submitted their architectural plan to the installation of the machine at the factory up to the time of the ISO certification.
Dr. Daniel Katabarwa, the Under Secretary from Ministry of health in his remarks said that South Sudan buying from Uganda will support regional integration through trade, and bolstering trade within the EAC region.
Dr Okuna Neville Oteba; the Commissioner of Health Services, Pharmaceuticals and Natural Medicines from the Ministry of Health who represented the Minister of Health in her remarks said that she was impressed and happy with the works being done at the factory.
She further said that the ministry did the necessary spot checks at the factory and approved the quality of the consumables being manufactured by the company.
Dr. Okuna said that the ministry will continue to support the company by buying from them. She urged the management of the company to ensure that the staff are well motivated enough through remunerations to ensure productivity at the company.
Ben Kavuya the Chairman of EAMV, in his remarks, thanked the Ministry of health and NDA for the technical support offered to the company which enabled them to reach the production stage. “I have not seen an institution of a high-quality level of professionalism like NDA in this country,” he said.
He said that by the end of 2023, they will be producing syringes will be in the market by then. Kavuya also said that the company has been able to provide employment to over 200 people at the company, and in the next four years they will be employing over 1000 when they expand production capacity, which will promote economic growth in the country.
When asked when, the company will commence the production of condoms; the chairman said that the manufacturing of medical vitals is done in phases but not driven by economic emotion, but said that it is in the offing with feasibility studies being done.
He said that the company has already invested USD13 million for the company to reach its current state of producing 95 million medical and surgical gloves annually.
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