The Government of Eswatini plans to convert the country’s Central Medical Stores into a standalone entity in a major reform aimed at fixing persistent medicine shortages across public health facilities.
Speaking during the post-budget seminar hosted by the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) at the CBE Complex in Ezulwini, Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, said the restructuring of the Central Medical Stores (CMS) will strengthen accountability and improve the efficiency of medicine procurement and distribution.
The Minister said government intends to remove CMS from direct government administration and establish it as a parastatal entity responsible for managing the entire pharmaceutical supply chain.
According to Rijkenberg, the reform will allow the new entity to oversee medicines from the point of procurement until they reach patients in hospitals and clinics across the country.
“We are busy working on turning Central Medical Stores into a standalone entity. By putting it now into a parastatal, it means you are taking it out of government’s hands and putting it into a standalone entity that will control medicines from when they come in to when they reach someone’s hands,” he said.
The reform also introduces a performance-based payment system aimed at ensuring medicines reach their intended destinations. Under the new arrangement, the entity will only receive payment once it proves that medicines procured have successfully reached patients.
“They will not get paid until the medicine reaches someone’s hands,” Rijkenberg said.
The Minister explained that the move seeks to address longstanding inefficiencies in the supply chain that have contributed to shortages of essential medicines in public hospitals.
Healthcare delivery in Eswatini has faced recurring disruptions due to procurement delays, distribution challenges, and stock management issues at the national medicine storage facility.
By creating a dedicated parastatal entity with a focused mandate, government hopes to introduce stronger operational controls and professional management systems in the country’s pharmaceutical logistics.
The reform forms part of broader public sector efficiency measures outlined in the national budget and aligns with government’s efforts to improve service delivery in critical sectors such as health.