Logistic error blamed for psychiatric drug shortage

PATIENTS turned away from clinics and hospitals around East London without their anti-depressants can now receive their medication again thanks to the department of health.

For weeks patients had left Border clinics empty-handed as certain drugs for psychiatric conditions had run out.

This, according to health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo was as a result of a “communication breakdown”.

He said the service provider had delivered it to the Mthatha depot instead of the Port Elizabeth depot, which supplies East London and surrounding areas.

The worst affected site, Mdantsane’s Cecilia Makiwane Hospital, had reportedly been without the necessary selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) drugs for about a week.

The shortage was also reported at Frere Hospital.

“The breakdown was between the head office, the PE depot and the service providing company.

“The medication was found at the state depot in Mthatha.

“It was only the Port Elizabeth depot that did not have the medication while the Mthatha depot did. The Mthatha depot is supplying the Border region as well,” Kupelo said.

He said the service provider was expecting to deliver the medication before the end of the month.

The CMH mental health unit caters for more than 1 000 patients from across the Amathole district, while Frere Hospital deals only with out-patients.

The shortage had sparked concerns about an increase in suicide rates over the Christmas season, particularly as the patients affected suffer from depression and anxiety, among other conditions.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death across all age brackets in 2014, but for the age group 10-24 years it was the second leading cause of death.

Suicide is a global phenomenon, and a 2012 World Health Organisation report also highlighted young people as more vulnerable: among 15- to 29year-olds it was the second leading cause of death.

Roughly 800 000 people die by suicide every year, 75% of them in low to middle-income countries. —