Sascha Wilson
Lifesaving and other critical medication to treat severe ailments in children and adults, including severely ill COVID-19 patients, are either unavailable or in short supply in the country.
Several pharmacists confirmed to Guardian Media that in some cases they have not received a supply of certain medications for as long as a year.
Depending on how long the supply issues last, president Andrew Rahaman is concerned that if the drugs continue to be scarce it could result in the loss of lives.
He explained that the problem with supply is two-fold.
Rahaman said, “We started having shortages during COVID because first world countries, many of them, that are involved in manufacturing because of the scarcity of raw materials and manpower and so on, are keeping the products that they have, especially emergency use products for domestic use and our importers who are accustom to importing those things are not able to get it for purchase to import it into Trinidad to bring for us.”
He said another major issue is significant shipping delays.
“And they are saying Christmas is approaching it might even get worse so I am acknowledging that there are certain items and the number seems to be increasing daily that are unavailable in the country,” he added.
Rahaman said even EpiPen injections that are used by people who have severe allergic reactions whether it be to food or insect stings and they tend to go into shock and even die are unavailable. Rahaman added that there are also challenges in sourcing medication for surgeries.
“There are people who have important surgeries and they will need the Nimbex, Oxytocin is something used after delivery, in some cases before also. Digoxin is a heart medication. A lot of critical items,” he said
According to Rahaman, in some cases, there might not be any alternative drugs to treat the particular medical complication.
He said the Government should consider adopting a similar approach when they were trying to source COVID-19 vaccines.
“So depending on the items and depending on how long this takes and how severe it gets, it might be that some diplomatic negotiations might have to start occurring because we might be in a situation where I am thinking it is very possible to lose lives because certain things are not available. Prednisolone for children, for example, it is something that could be life-saving and at this time it is generally unavailable,” he noted.
He said the Government should consider drawing up a list of the critical medications that are in short supply and approach the governments of the respectful countries who manufacture the drugs to purchase the medications.
Checks with several pharmacies revealed that critical medications for children, such as Predkid, to treat suffering from kidney ailments, heart disease, asthma, rheumatic diseases and central nervous system tumours have been in short supplies for almost two months, in some cases.
“The alternative is prednisolone tablets 5mg which is bitter. On the ward, there was a child who could not swallow tablets. The tablets had to be crushed and mixed with sugar syrup or honey but it is still difficult to swallow,” a hospital source said.
Meanwhile, a senior pharmacist told Guardian Media that critical items to treat COVID-related symptoms and ICU patients are also out of stock. Guardian Media was told that a range of hypertensive medications as well as immunosuppressants is in short supplies.
A pharmacist, however, suggested that the authorities make the process easier for pharmacies to import drugs instead of having to wait on local suppliers.
Guardian Media reached out to the Ministry of Health and regional health authorities, but up to press time only the South West Regional Health Authority responded.
The SWRHA, however, referred questions to the ministry.
sidebar
Ministry responds
In a release last night, the Ministry of Health advised that it continues to closely manage the national drug supply in the face of global supply chain challenges, which have been amplified due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry indicated that some of the strategies that are continuously employed but are not limited to include, internal redirection of medical supplies to critical areas of need, application of alternative treatment plans, working closely with local suppliers to access additional markets, engagement of regional and international member states to access supplies of critical medication and leveraging the ministry's relationships with regional and international organizations ( e.g. World Health Organization/ Pan American Health Organisation (WHO/PAHO), Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)). The ministry assured the public that it is using all available channels to ensure that the medical supplies utilised are safe and efficacious.
The ministry, according to the release, continues to monitor this key area of operations and remains committed to providing optimum healthcare to patients and to the population.