The State Health Services Administration (ASSE), Leonardo Cipriani, affirmed this Thursday that the number of missing medicines in its warehouses decreased from 97 medicines to 21, of which the entity has substitutes.
According to the chief, the shortage of these formulas did not only affect ASSE pharmacies, but rather it was something general. The president of the entity indicated that the explosion and fire that affected the Fármaco Uruguayo laboratory in December 2021 impacted the entire National Integrated Health System (SNIS).
Cipriani explained that this laboratory produced up to two million units of medication per month. The slowdown in production caused the other laboratories to suffer an overload, which complicated supply.
In addition, as the president of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP), Daniel Salinas, the president of ASSE signed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also had an impact on the issue, because the raw material must be imported in order to later produce the medicine.
On the other hand, Cipriani pointed out that the number of missing drugs decreased by 75 drugs in two months. Of the 21 missing formulas, most are compounds in ampoules. However, he indicated that there are substitutes for these. In addition, he explained that there are reserves, but knowing that these are finite, they asked the MSP to allow imports.
