KZN Health officials have reported a stabilisation in medicine shortages, but concerns remain about insulin and Magnesium Sulphate availability.
Image: Supplied
“There seems to be some level of stabilisation.”
That was according to KZN health portfolio committee chairperson Dr Imran Keeka during a follow-up meeting with the KZN Health Department on medicine shortages.
He said their office has received fewer complaints, indicating that the situation they were dealing with a month ago seems to be moving towards stabilisation.
However, Keeka said the committee would not say it was entirely satisfied because it was not and they must request an update from Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane.
KZN Health pharmaceutical services director Vusi Dlamini said the department considers medicine availability as a non-negotiable deliverable and it continues to maintain the medicine supply management systems.
He said provincial and district offices maintain ongoing oversight of healthcare facilities.
“The department issues circulars through the provincial pharmaceuticals and therapeutics committee, guiding therapeutic alternatives for items that are out of stock,” Dlamini said.
He said suppliers may occasionally be unable to meet demand. Some items are affected by supplier constraints, impacting the ability to maintain optimal stock levels.
With insulin, the Actraphane pens have been a challenge, however, they are using vials. Additionally, the Magnesium Sulphate supplier has difficulty meeting the demand and the stock is being distributed between facilities.
Dlamini also said the packing challenges at the manufacturer level make product availability a challenge and sometimes manufacturers run out of raw materials for production. Additionally, there are cases where the product is available, but the desired pack size is not.
“We routinely follow up on suppliers to ensure that orders are delivered timeously,” Dlamini said.
“Our department’s monitoring systems enable proactive management of medicine stocks in facilities and minimising stockouts. We do have a global view of this stock that enables us to redistribute stock from facilities that have high stock levels to facilities that have low stock levels.
“Districts provide daily medicine stockout reports to the accounting officer for onward submission to the executive authority, enabling the department to redistribute the stock,” Dlamini continued.
He said a weekly review meeting is held every Friday to discuss and resolve medicine availability issues.
Dlamini added that the department has made significant strides in processing a substantial number of orders.
Keeka asked for stock visibility in each district.
He said insulin pen shortages were problematic, and they received a significant number of complaints about these shortages.
“This shortage is not new, and it’s not only not ours, you know, going on for quite some time,” Keeka said.
He said a major complaint they were receiving was when patients were given vials, they were not getting syringes, receiving insufficient syringes, or getting insufficient insulin.
Keeka asked if the insulin problem was nationwide because the private sector had readily available insulin pens.
He also expressed concern over the shortage of Magnesium Sulphate and asked for updates going forward.
Dlamini responded that the insulin shortage is a global issue and that the production of Ozempic, a profitable product in high demand, is favoured over insulin production. He stated that there has been a shift in production towards Ozempic.
However, Keeka said: “I’m grossly unsatisfied with your explanation about the insulin pens that you have placed the issue on Ozempic. I would appreciate it if you send us a proper response after this meeting.”
Acting HOD Penny Msimango said: “We are noting the chair’s comments about the availability of insulin between the private and public health sectors. We are going to look at that and we will provide a report to the chair at the earliest.
“We are going to look into the complaints by patients of not getting enough syringes and we are going to issue a circular indicating at least the maximum number of syringes that the patient should be issued for the number of doses of insulin so patients don’t run out.”
thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za