Production of drugs with high demand to be increased: Minister
ANKARA
The recent shortage of drugs experienced by pharmacies across the country will be resolved in the coming weeks, as the production of drugs with high consumption will be increased significantly, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has pledged.
“In the coming weeks, drugs with high consumption, including antibiotics and children’s syrups, will be put on the market with a significant increase in production,” Koca told reporters after the cabinet meeting on Jan. 24.
There was a shortage of drugs in our country as in the rest of the world due to the seasonal increase in the number of diseases, especially in children’s antibiotics, cold medicines, nasal sprays and the like, the minister suggested.
“This was a problem due to the fact that raw materials could not be brought to the country towards the new year and the number of patients was higher than expected,” he explained, reiterating that the production has already been increased by 55 percent.
The ministry has earlier reached an agreement with drug manufacturers to boost the production of the drugs that are difficult to obtain.
A shortage of drugs from December to February occurs every year due to numerous firms that stop supplying drugs in the market until the new prices are determined before the new year.
Decreased drug production due to no more active ingredients coming from China, which meets 98 percent of the needs of the domestic pharmaceutical industry, the use of too many antibiotics during the pandemic and the drug needs of foreign nationals in the country are among the reasons behind the shortage, according to sector representatives.
The increase in many expenditures from the raw material to the bottle and packaging of the drug, as they are foreign exchange-based, also contribute to the problem, they say.
New exchange rate regulations for manufacturers, suspension of the export of rare drugs for a while and reliable conditions for the purchase of pharmaceutical raw materials were some of the solutions Koca listed earlier to control the drug shortage.
