A survey by the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM) found that 80.4% of the 2,469 municipalities that responded to the consultation reported a lack of basic pharmaceutical care medicines.
The list includes drugs to treat chronic conditions or mild symptoms. The highest reported absences were of amoxicillin (68%), dipyrone (65.6%), injectable dipyrone (50.6%), prednisolone (45.3%), azithromycin (42%) and ambroxol (39.6%) .
There was also a lack of other drugs such as carvedilol, calcium folinate, omeprazole, oral rehydration salts, warfarin, gliclazide, nitrofurantoin and loratadine. The absence of this group of drugs was reported by 55.6% of municipal administrations. There are cases of total unavailability and specific dosages.
Almost half (44.7%) of the municipalities that participated in the survey indicated that the lack of products occurs between periods of 30 to 90 days. According to the CNM, “this data indicates that the problem of shortages is not a one-off, on the contrary, it has become chronic”.
In 19.7% (486) the shortages have occurred for more than 90 days. In only 12.6% (312) of the municipalities this problem has been present for at least 30 days.
In the survey, 12.6% of the municipalities reported that they have a forecast of normalization of stocks within 30 days. For most cities (59.2%), there is no provision for solving the problem. Given this scenario, 58% of municipal administrations had to resort to the emergency purchase of medicines or supplies.
The CNM also sought to find out if, in addition to medicines, there is a lack of basic medical or outpatient supplies. It was found that 66.7% of the municipalities that responded to the survey did not indicate a lack of these supplies, such as syringes, gauze, needles and bandages. Already 28.5% reported a lack of these materials, while 4.7% did not know how to respond.
After the survey, the CNM concluded that “there has been a chronic shortage of basic and specialized medicines for more than 90 days that is affecting public health services, including basic ones, structures in which the population seeks care for respiratory and post-Covid issues. -19, where populations with chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes are welcomed”.
The entity also pointed out that it was not possible to perceive “on the part of the federal government nor the states of the federation, a strategy and resolution in the short and medium term that removes from the municipalities the unfeasible task of finding medicines in the necessary quantities, even if they purchase the products via emergency purchases.
When asked about the observations and conclusions of the CNM survey, the Ministry of Health and the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass) have not yet commented.
Source: CNN Brasil
