Montenegrin pharmacies were left without "rifampicin", which is used in the treatment of tuberculosis, and for now it is not certain that any manufacturer from the region or the countries of the European Union will supply this medicine in the coming period.
The shortage of this drug, which is prescribed not only for tuberculosis patients but also for patients with severe bacterial infections, has been going on for months, so citizens are forced to buy it abroad.
"Montefarm" replied to "Vijesta" that rifampicin (rifamor capsules of 300 milligrams) is in short supply at the supplier and that the manufacturer - Belgrade-based "Galenika" announced back in November that they were unable to deliver the drug due to production problems. They also claim that "Galenika" did not provide precise information on when production is expected to stabilize...
"Considering that in Montenegro there is no holder of a permit for import and marketing under a protected name, Montefarm constantly sends inquiries to all authorized suppliers to import the drug from any manufacturer from the region or EU countries, but none of them has responded with a specific request so far. by offer. Bearing in mind the fact that Montefarm does not import drugs directly from the manufacturer, but procures them in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement, procedures 44 22, then 48 22 and 53 22, we asked for the necessary quantities of rifampicin capsules, but the suppliers did not submit offers for the mentioned drug. , writes in the response of this institution.
Fewer than a hundred patients get sick from tuberculosis in Montenegro every year. According to data from the World Health Organization, about ten million people get sick from this infectious disease every year, one million of them children, and about two million die worldwide.
Citizens complain that there is no corticosteroid
In the past days, citizens have claimed that the Podgorica Health Center lacks the drug "dexamethasone", a corticosteroid, which is given in hospital conditions for rheumatoid diseases, but also that some institutions lack the diuretic "furosemide", against high blood pressure.
State and private pharmacies also lack "tobradex" eye drops (a combination of the corticosteroid dexamethasone used to treat eye inflammation and the antibiotic tobramycin to treat eye infection), and "Vijesti" was unofficially informed that suppliers have not been supplying it for a long time.
"Montefarm" replied that their warehouse regularly supplies "dexamethasone" and "furosemide" to all health institutions, that there are no delays in procurement and delivery, and that stocks are currently stable.
"Since the beginning of the current year, 58.000 ampoules of dexamethasone have been delivered to public health institutions, while 36.000 ampoules of furosemide have been delivered in the same period," said the institution.
In the past period, some health centers ran out of antibiotics. "Lendacin" (longacef), which patients bought in pharmacies, was missing.
About twenty days ago, Montenegrin hospitals said that they had not had certain medicines for months, such as thrombolytic medicines, antibiotics, therapy against heart diseases, and they also lacked syringes, pipettes, digital thermometers...
Sources of "Vijesti" from several hospitals say that they are forced to buy certain medicines from their own funds, while from "Montefarm", which supplies dozens of health institutions, they say that they deliver the required therapies, medical devices and consumables every day and that a stoppage in distribution occurs only when the supplier of a medicine does not have the possibility of delivery. At the beginning of February, there was a shortage of two cytostatics at the Institute of Oncology of the Clinical Center.
Inflation and the energy crisis led to shortages in Europe
The Brussels portal Politico announced at the end of January this year that in a survey on the supply of pharmacies in 29 European countries, including EU members, Turkey, Kosovo, Norway and North Macedonia, almost a quarter reported a shortage of more than 600 types of drugs. About one-fifth of the countries reported that they lacked between 200 and 300 medicines. Politico writes that three-quarters of countries reported that shortages this winter were greater than a year ago.
"The authorities in Belgium announced that their pharmacies lack close to 300 types of medicines. In Germany, that number is 408, while pharmacies in Austria cannot currently find more than 600 types of medicine. The list of missing medicines in Italy is even longer and ranges around 3 types of missing medicines, however, many of them are of the same composition, but of a different pharmaceutical form", reported Politico.
According to the survey, European countries lack the most antibiotics, especially "amoxicillin", which is used to treat respiratory infections, while cough syrups, "paracetamol" for children and drugs against high blood pressure are also hard to find.
Politico states that the cause of the drug shortage is increased demand and decreased supply.
"Seasonal infections - primarily influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) - started early and are much stronger than usual. Also, an unusually high number of throat infections with streptococcus A was registered in children. Experts believe that the unusually high level of this disease is associated with weaker immune systems that are no longer resistant to a number of germs that surround us in our daily lives, due to previous periods of quarantine. This difficult winter, after several peaceful years (with the exception of covid-19), caught pharmaceutical manufacturers unprepared," the Brussels portal announced.
According to Politico, inflation and the energy crisis are putting an additional burden on pharmaceutical companies, affecting the supply itself.
Thus, one of the Dutch manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients announced last year that its factory reduced production by a quarter compared to 2021 due to high energy costs.
Sandoz, one of the largest manufacturers on the European market of generic drugs, told Politico that they are also facing challenges, although they can currently meet demand, and that among the culprits for this situation are the lack of raw materials and production capacity limitations.
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