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CARACAS, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The Venezuelan government has established automatic distribution centers as part of a project to improve medical supplies in the South American country.
The new move since May is expected to help the government seek a direct distribution of needed drugs to the country's 242 hospitals and about 13,500 clinics.
The move is necessary because "companies focus on big pharmacy chains, leaving many other pharmacies not well supplied and stocked," a government official Wilmer Baez told Xinhua.
The five centers, in the states of Lara, Aragua, Miranda, Anzoategui and Barinas, can distribute 162 types of medicine and over 200 types of surgical and other medical supplies.
They have helped increase the volume of medical supplies by 52 percent over the past few months since the operation began, the government estimates.
The Venezuelan government is also trying to work with the country's 45 private drug producers and six state-owned drug companies in order to cut drug and medical supply imports due to declines in oil income.
It is expected to invest a total of about 26.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 and 2016 in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.
