Psychiatric patients affected by drug shortages – survey

MOST psychiatric patients have been turned away from primary health care clinics without at least one of their medications, a survey has found.

“Although this is enough reason for concern, the prevalence of stock-outs might be higher,” the SA Federation for Mental Health’s Charlene Sunkel and Marthé Viljoen said.

Writing in this month’s edition of The Lancet Psychiatry, they said drug shortages threatened patients with relapse, loss of employment and social isolation.

Sunkel and Viljoen quoted from a survey of 109 patients carried out last year by the SA Mental Health Advocacy Movement.

“The service users indicated that the unavailability of medication had affected their lives in various ways,” they said.

“They reported a noticeable effect on their mental wellbeing – 30% experienced a complete relapse resulting in hospitalisation, 30% experienced some symptoms but did not require hospitalisation, 17% experienced changes in sleeping patterns and 23% experienced anxiety.”

The burden of mental, neurological and substance use disorders on public health had increased by 41% between 1990 and 2010, and was still increasing, Sunkel and Viljoen said.

“The National Mental Health Policy Framework and Strategic Plan 2013-20 in SA makes the commitment that ‘all psychotropic medicines, as provided on the standard treatment guidelines and essential drugs list will be available at all levels of care, including primary health care clinics’, but this not being implemented,” they said.