The most severe patients remained without therapy

The Clinical Center (KC) ran out of cytostatic 5-fluorouracil (5FU), which is used to treat patients suffering from some types of cancer.

The patients claim that their chemotherapy was delayed due to the shortage of that drug and that they could not receive the required dose of the drug the day before yesterday.

PJ from Nikšić told "Vijesta" that a member of his family, who is being treated for stomach cancer, could not receive therapy on Wednesday, even though he was supposed to receive it for the third day in a row.

He said that they were told at the KC Oncology Clinic that the third day of therapy was not carried out due to the lack of cytostatics and that the next cycle of chemotherapy was scheduled for March 18. Patients were also told at the Clinic that the drug 5FU should arrive in five or six days.

KC replied to "Vijesta" that they currently lack this cytostatic, but emphasized that Montenegrin patients have access to the widest list of drugs against malignant diseases in the region.

"We would like to point out that the procurement of medicines is not within the jurisdiction of the Central Committee, and therefore we cannot influence it," writes the answer of the institution headed by Jevto Eraković.

The pharmacy institution "Montefarm", which is in charge of supplying hospitals with medicines, told "Vijesti" that this medicine is at customs.

"At the beginning of next week, the medicine will be delivered to the Clinical Center," said Montefarma. However, they did not answer what was the reason for its shortage.

The Montenegrin health system, according to the recently published list of the European Health Consumer Index (ECHI), in 2018, advanced by two positions. When it comes to the health system, the country ranked 23rd in the competition from 35 European countries. Among the countries of the region, Serbia is, for example, in 18th position, Croatia is in 24th place, and North Macedonia is in 25th place.

The report of the organization "Health Consumer Powerhouse", among other things, showed that the Montenegrin system has progressed due to the "availability of modern therapy for malignant diseases".

The report states that last year countries, including Montenegro and Serbia, made great efforts to increase the availability of new medicines in previous years.

Therapy for oncology patients was significantly expanded one year and four months ago, when the new Basic List of Medicines was adopted.

For example, in April of last year KC ran out of cytostatic drug "Zomet", which is used by cancer patients with advanced disease. "Montefarm" announced at the time that it was a stoppage in production caused by technical problems. The following month, there was a shortage of "endoxan", a therapy for the treatment of breast and lung cancer, and "Montefarm" cited a lack of raw materials at the manufacturer as the official reason for the shortage.