ACTION TO SOLVE MEDICINE ‘CRISIS’

NORTH Cyprus will not be left without medicines, Health Minister İzlem Gürçağ Altuğra has pledged, as the government grapples with what has been described as a “crisis” by the Cyprus Turkish Pharmacists Association (KTEB).

Her promise came after members of the KTEB and pharmacy warehouse staff paid a visit to

President Ersin Tatar on Thursday to highlight the medicine shortages.

A statement from the KTEB said that during the meeting there was an “exchange of ideas” on how to “solve the medicine problems in our country as soon as possible” and to ensure that members of the public have access to the medications they need.

“During the meeting, where we conveyed all the problems and solution suggestions from the beginning to the end of the process, President Tatar talked to the Health Minister of Turkey, Fahrettin Koca, on the phone and explained the situation and started working for a solution as soon as possible,” the KTEB said.

The statement added that the KTEB and pharmacy warehouses are “not responsible for the medicine crisis in our country” and that they will “continue to work with our stakeholders with all our sincerity, although we do not have the legal authority to solve the problems”.

Mrs Altuğra, speaking during a Health Ministry budget debate in Parliament on Thursday, said that the concerns over medicine shortages are “unnecessary” and that the TRNC “will not be left without medicine”.

She said the “medicine issue” is a “global crisis” and that the main reason for it is the “scarcity of raw materials” used to produce drugs.

Mrs Altuğra added that her ministry is carrying out “technical studies” for a solution to the current problems.

In early December the KTEB rang the alarm bells over medicine shortages and held a meeting with the Turkish ambassador to Lefkoşa, Metin Feyzioğlu, to ask for his help on the matter.

The KTEB had claimed that efforts by the Health Ministry and the state-run Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacy Department to resolve the problems had failed, a claim denied by the Health Ministry.

In addition to the reported shortages, there have also been steep increases in the cost of many medicines as prices are pegged to those in Turkey, from where the vast majority are imported.

Official inflation figures released this week, covering December, revealed that various types of medicines accounted for nine of the 20 items whose prices rose the most last month.

Prices of drugs “for the digestive system” topped the list, rising by a whopping 104.57 per cent compared to November, according to the figures.

There were also hikes of around 37 per cent last month for the prices of medicines for the nervous, cardio-vascular, musculoskeletal, and respiratory systems; diabetes; “blood and blood-producing organs”; skin diseases; and antibiotics.