The Ministry of Health says it has spent more than KD 411 million on the purchase of medicines, drugs and chemicals in the last fiscal year, and accordingly, the Treasury actually witnessed as increase in expenditure of more than KD 3 billion during the past 12 years.
The Al-Anba has learned from responsible ministry sources that spending of the Ministry of Health on medicines and drugs has been on a continuous rise since 2008, and jumped by about 240 percent to KD 121.1 million in that year and the upward trend continued until it reached KD 411.5 million by the end of the fiscal 2019/2020.
The sources stated the Ministry of Health has been continuing for years to supply its needs for medicines in excess of what is approved in the annual budget, and these amounts are paid in subsequent years, which make its final account unbalanced.
The sources said that an additional appropriation was opened in the budget of the Ministry of Health after a financial deficit in the item of medicines amounting to KD 100 million during the previous ended fiscal year.