720 medicines are in short supply in the country. This was announced by the Attorney General for Labor and Social Security, Diana Margarita Ojeda who asked the Ministry of Health and Invima to take action on the matter.
(See: Health reform: new objections that the government project has).
“The different health sectors, in various meetings they have had with the Attorney General’s Office, have informed us of the shortage of supplies that is taking place in the country. For this reason, we send a list to the Ministry of Health where we reference more than 720 medicines that are in short supply in the distributors.“said the official.
The drugs that, according to the attorney general, are scarcer are those related to mental health and non-communicable diseases, pathologies that have increased due to covid-19.
Ojeda revealed that in the face of this situation, the Ministry of Health explained to him “that it was a worldwide problem, that they are working on it and that they were going to negotiate with Colombian industries for the production of these medicines”.
(See: Access to health services in Colombia would exceed 73%).
However, the official warned that although Colombia has a good pharmaceutical industry, “there are some products that are not produced in the country due to the lack of raw material, so this option can take several years“.
In addition, currency fluctuations, the effects of the war in Ukraine, the prioritization of laboratories in the commercial channel over the institutional one, the congestion in the procedures before the National Institute of Medicines and Food Surveillance (Invima) and the liquidation of EPS also affect the trade of medicines in the country, according to the official.
(See: Only 1 in 3 Colombians would migrate to a public health system).
TIME
