Hoarding leads to acute medicines shortage

Several life-saving drugs crucial for treating Covid-19 patients have been missing from the market

KARACHI: With the outbreak of Covid-19, the pharmaceutical market is facing an acute dearth of several medicines because of people’s undue hoarding behaviour, The Express Tribune has learned. Owing to the shortage, the supply of antibiotics, vitamin supplements, and anti-allergy drugs used to treat sore throats has been suspended in the market.

“Ever since the number of coronavirus patients surged in Sindh, people are flocking to my shop in search of vitamin supplements and Actemra injections,” Muhammad Fazal, who runs a medical store in Karachi’s Federal B Area, revealed.

“People are purchasing up to 20 bottles of multivitamins at a time, because of which we quickly ran short of supplies. I think the government should put a cap on the number of medicines a person can purchase,” he suggested.

Speaking on the matter, Dow University of Health Sciences’ former vice-chancellor Dr Masood Hameed Khan confirmed that hospitals were struggling with the shortage of medicines which have been specifically proposed for patients suffering for Covid-19.

“These medicines are being used on an empirical basis, but it is very sad to know that they have gone missing from the market,” he said. “While the government must look into the matter and talk to pharmaceutical companies, I would also like to request the people of Pakistan to be responsible and stop hoarding medicines like vitamin supplements, calcium tablets, and antibiotics like azithromycin, because they are needed by people suffering from Covid-19.”

Dr Hameed Khan added that instead of stockpiling medicines, healthy people should follow precautionary measures like wearing masks, frequently washing hands, using alcohol rubs, and practicing social distancing to keep themselves safe.

He said that as far as boosting immunity was concerned, people should consume healthy foods, especially leafy vegetables and citrus fruits like lemon. They should also increase the intake of nuts, use olive oil instead of vegetable oils, sleep for at least seven hours a day to stay in good health, and avoid smoking.

“This is not just about hoarding medicines for one’s safety, but it is now a matter of humanity. I, therefore, request people to think about those suffering from the disease and their families instead of purchasing medicines unnecessarily.”

Wholesale Chemist Council of Pakistan president Muhammad Atif Hanif Blue blamed pharmaceutical companies and claimed that many of them have deliberately stopped the supply of life-saving drugs, especially injections and several medicines necessary for treating Covid-19 patients.

“I request the federal government and the federal health ministry to look into the situation and take action against the involved pharmaceutical companies,” he said.

He added that the absence of medicines like Actemra - which has shown positive results on Covid-19 patients - are missing from medical stores but they are being openly sold in the black market at inflated rates.

Blue further said that the abrupt suspension of supply of the injection had forced the families of coronavirus patients to visit the wholesale market in the search of it.

Apart from Actemra, immunity-boosting drugs, vitamin supplements, face masks, and oximetres - used to measure the saturation of oxygen - are short from the market. Panicked by the shortage, together with the looming threat of contracting the coronavirus, many healthy individuals have started hoarding medical supplies.

“The supply of Actemra is crucial to saving the lives of patients. Capitalising on the situation, some antihuman elements have secretly stocked the injection and they are selling it at very high rates. This exploitation must stop,” he stressed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2020.