Medicine shortages force public clinics to send patients to private pharmacies

The November master products list allows provinces to buy 1,135 medicines. The October hotlist names 165 products in critical shortage. Stavros Nicolaou, chair of the Pharmaceutical Task Group, said the list of scarce drugs is the longest in living memory.

Andy Gray, a senior lecturer in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, blamed a mix of local and global pressures. He cited congestion at the Port of Durban and production delays linked to conflict in the Middle East. He also said some firms stopped supplying provincial health departments because of unpaid bills. Some multinationals stopped making older medicines that no longer earn a profit, he said.

Health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said some local manufacturers with government contracts failed to meet regulatory standards. He said the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority closed certain manufacturing lines, which added to the shortages. He called the disruption unprecedented. The Pharmaceutical Task Group said the shortages point to deep problems in the department's tender system.

Mvuyiso Talatala, past president of the South African Society of Psychiatrists, said changing a patient's medicine can cause severe side effects or a relapse that needs hospital care. He said doctors are ethically obliged to give prescriptions to patients who can pay for private pharmacies. Taswill Welcome runs a Cape Town support group of about 40 people. He said three members recently relapsed and went to hospital.