MONROVIA, Montserrado – After making assurances to continue distributing essential drugs to health facilities despite the recent fire at the National Drug Service warehouse, the agency says it will begin airlifting drugs to locations across the country.

On Tuesday, May 30, fire gutted one of the six warehouses and a laboratory at the National Drug Service, situated in the compound of the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Sinkor.

The warehouse affected is used to store essential medical supplies that are used for service delivery while the laboratory was the only one used by the Liberia Medicine and Health Regulatory Authority to test the quality of drugs entering the country.

According to a Ministry of Health press statement, investigations are still continuing into the cause of the May 30 fire.

The destroyed National Drug Service facility. Photo: Zeze Ballah

The statement said Health Ministry authorities are working with the NDS to estimate the cost of setting up a mini-laboratory to substitute for the destroyed facility.

“The Liberia Medicine and Health Regulatory Authority is to continue the testing of the quality of drugs entering the country while efforts continue to reconstruct a mini-laboratory,” the press statement said.

Despite the massive destruction done to the facility, the National Drug Service has not yet released the monetary value of materials destroyed by the fire outbreak.

The entire roof of the building was destroyed during the fire outbreak.

Featured photo by Zeze Ballah