The Israeli Pharmacists Association warned of a severe shortage of drugs – including Ritalin, medicine used for the treatment of heart and blood vessels issues, and drugs for the treatment of skin problems – in a letter sent to Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Nachman Ash on Monday.
“At any given moment, there is a lack of medicine in Israel. During the last two years and in the last few months, in particular, the phenomenon of the shortage has been intensifying,” association chairman David Pepo said in the statement.
“The shortage is understandable due to a variety of reasons: COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, the global employment crisis and the economic crisis,” Pepo explained.
“To these, one must add severe disruptions occurring in the distribution systems of the medicines within Israel, which are justified by a lack of personnel, malfunctions, high distribution costs and many other explanations of various kinds,” Pepo said.
A poorly handled crisis
Despite various issues, the demand for medicines is stable and a lack of a particular medicine also has an effect on the stocks of generic substitutes for the same medicine, which are also immediately depleted, such as Clonex, Paracetamol, Muscol, Nexin, Etofen and Strepsils.
“Eventually, patients are the ones harmed the most, and additional financial damage is caused as a result of the shortages,” Pepo said.
“Eventually, patients are the ones harmed the most, and additional financial damage is caused as a result of the shortages.”
Chairman of the Pharmacists Association David Pepo
Furthermore, the pharmacists claimed that the problem is not being managed properly by government bodies, the health ministry in particular.
“There is no doubt that without the intervention of the Health Ministry immediately regarding the suppliers and distributors to formulate solutions, and against the background of the global economic situation, it is inevitable that the phenomenon will only get worse,” the pharmacists said.
