President Lazarus Chakwera says he is monitoring the scarcity of drugs in the country`s public hospitals.

This follows continued reports that most of the public hospitals are running out of essential drugs leaving patients stranded.

Commenting on the development, State House Director of Communications, Sean Kampondeni, said the Malawi leader is aware of the shortage.

Kampondeni said: “He is aware of matters to do with shortages of drugs in the hospitals, some of the issues are systematic that have been there in the system for a long time.

“Some issues have to do with personnel, you need to have professionals in the right places who know how to get the jobs done.”

Kampondeni added that the issue will be addressed as the President has already engaged the responsible ministry of health on how the challenges will be dealt with.

“It will not be overnight but they will be addressed overtime because even last week the President met with the Minister of Health Khumbize Chiponda on the same,” he said.

Some public hospitals have resolved purchasing drugs directly from suppliers as Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) is currently running out of some essential drugs.