Still under the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, both in health and in the supply of goods, cities in the country face a lack of medicines.
According to the National Council of Municipal Health Departments (Conasems), an absence is common to all states: the injectable dipyrone monohydrate 500mg.
The drug is one of the most used in the health network, indicated for the treatment of pain and fever.
The problem was reported to the Ministry of Health more than a month ago and the council is still awaiting a response. THE CNN also looked for the folder, but got no response so far.
In Rio de Janeiro, this week, the Council of Municipal Health Secretaries (Cosems-RJ) launched an alert about the lack of injectable drugs and saline. “The drama of drug shortages has returned to haunt health managers across the country,” says the publication.
In a consultation with entities and secretariats in the country, Cosems-RJ points out the difficulty in relation to several items.
“The hospital network already counts, in many cities, the absence of up to 134 items, such as mycophenolate, to prevent rejection in organ transplants; epoetin alfa, which fights anemia; and ribavirin, used against hepatitis C. More recently, it was the turn of private sector pharmacies to denounce shortages such as antibiotics, drugs used, for example, to treat pneumonia, otitis and tonsillitis”, disclosed the agency.
The State Health Department of Rio de Janeiro stated that the lack of these medicines is a worldwide problem and that it really faces difficulties in acquiring some items, but that, for now, it has stock, with no problems in attendance.
The acquisition difficulty does not only affect the public network, but also the private one, as confirmed by Graccho Alvim, director of the Association of Hospitals of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
“Indeed, some are in short supply and others are very difficult to obtain, including for the general public, even for those who need some types of antibiotics and medicines in common use. I think Covid, soon after the influenza epidemic and Ômicron caused a much greater use of these antibiotics than the industry expected”, he said.
In hospitals, according to Alvim, it is difficult to obtain pre-anesthetics and antibiotics. For pediatric use, there is a lack of amoxicillin, used to treat bacterial infections, including in pharmacies – a situation reported by Cosems-RJ and by Alvim.
The Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Networks (Abrafarma), which represents the large networks, says it does not register the problem.
People heard by CNN in Rio de Janeiro reported that they had problems acquiring, in pharmacies, some antibiotics, such as children’s Clavulin and Novamox.
Clavulin is primarily used to treat bacterial infections in the upper respiratory tract such as the ear, nose and throat (especially sinusitis, otitis media and tonsillitis) and infections such as chronic bronchitis and bronchopneumonia.
Novamox is also given to fight bacterial infections.
As the problem continues, doctors try to find other items to replace the function.
“The industry shows signs that this will normalize in one, two months, but it is a very serious problem for the general population. In addition to inflation, with the more expensive medicines, there is still a shortage”, he added.
It is worth remembering that pharmaceutical products rose 6.13% in April, according to IBGE data.
In the case of dipyrone, sources heard by the CNN point out that there is a difficulty in purchasing.
The main pharmaceutical company that produces the drug, responsible for almost 60% of dipyrone production today in Brazil, announced a pause in operations due to market reasons and stopped distributing the drug to public and private networks.
The Brazilian Association of Pharmaceutical Inputs Industry (Abiquifi) points out that Brazil is still feeling the effects of the pandemic on logistics.
The president of the entity, Norberto Prestes, highlights that the lockdown in China has again generated instability. “Logistics are very complicated in China to bring any general input or medicine”, he pointed out.
In São Paulo, since last month, the Union of Hospitals, Clinics and Laboratories, representative of the private network, reports the lack of medicines, especially dipyrone, oxytocin, neostigmine, aminoglycosides and immunoglobulin.
“The supply problem has multiple causes, the main one being the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which made imports difficult and caused input prices to rise. Added to this is the difficulty in releasing products at ports and airports due to strike movements”, said doctor Francisco Balestrin, president of SindHosp.
THE CNN also sought out the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass). The agency confirmed that the supply of some items is irregular and verified the need for care around the issue. According to Conass, the Ministry of Health has signaled that it is already taking internal measures to remedy the problems.
THE CNN also sought the federal government about the lack of medicines, but had no response.
Source: CNN Brasil
