The Sunday Mail
Nomagugu Konke
Zimbabwe is experiencing a shortage of critical drugs and The Sunday Mail can reveal that stocks of medicines for asthmatic, hypertensive and diabetic patients have reached alarming levels.
The country requires US$65 million for its weekly drug supply, but pharmaceutical companies are only accessing US$3 million from government.
A snap survey by The Sunday Mail in pharmacies in Harare showed a shortage of essential drugs, with many going for days without salbutamol inhalers and diabetes medication.
Ministry of Health and Child Care deputy director of pharmacy Mr Newman Madzikwa confirmed the shortage.
“The main challenge we are facing is the shortage of foreign currency since we import the things like inhalers from Indian and European manufacturers for those who are asthmatic,” he said.
“Foreign currency has been a problem from the crisis of ARVs, diabetic tablets and insulin; and now asthma drugs. Unless measures are put in place to make sure that foreign currency is availed to the pharmaceutical industry, we will have consistent problems from one drug to the other.”
Mr Madzikwa said the ministry was working with the RBZ to ensure foreign currency was availed for imported drugs and/or essential drug components.
“We had a meeting with RBZ last week and their response was positive,” he said. “By now there must be some movement with invoices that were pending with the banks so that medicines are paid for.
“We are requesting US$65 million a week which is required by the pharmaceutical industry, but banks cannot disburse that money at once and we are getting around US$3 million weekly.”
Efforts to get a comment from that President of the Zimbabwe Diabetic Association Dr John Mangwiro were unsuccessful as his phone went unanswered.
In 2015 Zimbabwe faced a shortage of salbutamol inhalers when suppliers decided it was cheaper to import than to manufacture them.
