Medicine crisis hits Zim

Plan pushes drugs down priority list

A shortage of cough mixtures and other medicines deemed “not important” is looming in Zimbabwe, with pharmaceutical companies coming up with a priority list for critical drugs as a cash crisis hits Harare. Zimbabwe imports at least 80% of its drugs. This week the Pharmaceutical Society of Zimbabwe said vitamin-based medicines and cough syrups have been pushed down the pecking order.

“Less important medicines such‚ as cough syrups‚ supplements and other vitamin-based medicines will no longer be a priority‚” spokesperson Sikhumbuzo Mpofu told The Sunday News. This prioritisation means that ailments like bronchiolitis could claim more lives. In February‚ there was a bronchiolitis outbreak in Harare‚ where 230 children were admitted in one week at Harare Children’s Hospital.

A 2010 study highlights that most of those infected rely on cough medicines to deal with chronic coughs. According to the WHO‚ 13.24 deaths per 100 000 in Zimbabwe are asthma-related. Most pharmacies have run out of imported drugs and have gone to the extent of refusing to service clients on medical aids. They now demand payment in US dollars. Mpofu said the current shortage could have been averted but the government did not consider pharmaceuticals as a critical sector in need of foreign currency.

“We predicted such a scenario [last year]. It is unfortunate priority was given to other industries‚” he said. Manufacturers owe a total of US$29m (R419m) to foreign raw material suppliers‚ and require $4m weekly. Economist Stevenson Dhlamini from the National University of Science and Technology said in as much as Western medicine was important‚ challenges faced by Zimbabweans would push them towards home remedies and traditional healers. “Already some private doctors don’t take medical aid‚ some are even attempting to ask for consultation fees in foreign currency despite that many can’t afford paying $35 [in bond notes] as consultation fees in government hospitals where they are given a list of drugs to go and buy.

“So it’s not a surprise when people go to traditional healers and sangomas‚ who are way cheaper. For colds where we tend to look for cough mixtures‚ home remedies are the solution‚” he said. – Reuters