CLAIMS of the unavailability of some medications, including for cancer and diabetes, have led some patients to call on Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe to address apparent shortages in the public health sector.
Patients who spoke with the Sunday Express at the St James Medical Complex last Thursday said outpatients were having problems accessing some drugs, which were expensive to purchase privately where available.
Similar claims were made by a number of outpatients at several health clinics, as well as at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex and Arima Hospital.
Claims are that outpatients who access some drugs through the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP) and through dispensaries at health facilities were being told that some drugs were unavailable for outpatients.
Several people said they were advised to visit the dispensaries in other areas to fill their prescriptions.
Some complained that the added “running around” was difficult with their health challenges.
One woman said she usually accessed medication at the St James facility or the Port of Spain General Hospital, but in the last two months has had to visit the dispensaries at Arima and Sangre Grande.
The 62-year-old Diego Martin resident said she completed treatment at the St James facility earlier this year and is currently an outpatient.
Several outpatients who had been treated for breast cancer said they were also forced to search for some drugs in the public system.
The Sunday Express was further told that the breast cancer drug Faslodex was also in short supply. Also known by chemical name fulvestrant, the drug is a prescription hormone therapy medicine used to treat advanced or metastatic hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer in post-menopausal women.
Medical staff at some facilities, who spoke anonymously, said shortages were also hitting drugs for diabetics and heart patients.
This includes Jardiance, (empagliflozin), which can only be accessed through the dispensaries of some hospitals.
‘Need to review drug
acquisition process’
Several patients said they have been unable to access the drug at public facilities for some time. Those who purchase the generic versions through pharmacies, around $12 per tablet, said this was also in short supply, and the original drug cost around $22 per tablet.
Jardiance is a prescription oral tablet taken once daily to lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetes, reduce cardiovascular death risks and heart failure hospitalisations, and slow chronic kidney disease progression.
One medical professional at a major public health facility said there was a need to review the acquisition process for medications to balance supply within the system.
The staff member said long procurement times was causing shortages of the drugs that are used the most, including for cancer and diabetes.
Attempts to get a response from Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe were unsuccessful. Chairman of the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) Dr Tim Gopeesingh also did not respond.
—Kim Boodram