AMMAN — The issue of drug shortages is still
making the rounds, made more confusing by pharmacists’ assurances that the
problem is real, and authorities’, including the
Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA), silence or outright denial that the problem exists.
اضافة اعلان
JFDA Director General Nizar Al-Mhaidat was quoted by
a local news outlet last Wednesday as saying that “there is no shortage of
medicines; the country’s pharmaceutical stocks cover the needs of the local
market for the next four to six months, depending on the type of medicines.”
This, however, does not seem to be the case with
imported medicines, pharmacists say.
“There is a shortage of imported medication, but
there are locally produced alternatives to substitute for the foreign medicines
that are out of stock,” said Wael Abu Dayyih, owner of a small pharmacy in
Rusaifah.
According to Abu Dayyih, “supply and demand in the
pharmaceutical sector is meticulously supervised by the JFDA.”
The problem seems to lie with customers, who either
shun locally produced medicine or prefer to stick with the tried and tested.
“Many customers ask for specific products that are
out of stock, but when we offer local alternatives with the same formula, they
do not go for them,” Abu Dayyih said.
“Jordanians stick to the familiar brands and
trademarks they know, and in many cases, they will not try any equivalent to
the product that is out of stock,” he added.
But why do some imported medicines run out of stock
in the first place?
According to Abu Dayyih, pharmacies run out of
imported drugs “for two main reasons”: either “because of financial issues
between the importer in Jordan and the exporter”, or because either “decides
that it is not feasible to bring in small quantities of a certain drug to sell
in Jordan, in light of the expenses incurred to market the product, given the
size of the Jordanian market”.
Meanwhile, the public health sector “may import the
drugs not found in pharmacies, but that is only because they enter into tenders
to purchase them in bulk directly from the producer”, he said.
Mohammad Qasqas, an employee in a pharmacy in Amman,
told
Jordan News that pharmacists “constantly struggle with the shortage
of imported medicines, as well as with consumers’ awareness about the adequacy
of local alternatives”.
The two interviewees reiterated that there is a
shortage of imported medicines, but also that Jordanians are hesitant to used
local alternatives, despite them having the same components as the foreign
product.
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