Kuwait City: The Kuwait Ministry of Health will ensure the availability of life-saving drugs. In a statement, the Ministry of Health also announced that special plans are being planned and implemented to deal with the global shortage of medicines due to the Covid epidemic.
In the past few days there have been reports that shortage of certain drugs used in cancer treatment has become acute in the country and there is confusion among oncologists regarding the protocol for using alternative drugs. It is in this context that the Ministry of Health has issued an explanatory note. The Ministry of Health is committed to ensure availability of medicines and has formulated a special plan to solve the current crisis, officials said.
A strategic stockpile of various medicines and medical products is safe for Kuwait. Hospitals and clinics in the country are assured of medicines for their needs. In case of unavailability of any drug, the Ministry has a specific protocol to provide the correct alternative drug. The Ministry stated that there are alternatives available with the same chemical ingredients for all drugs facing global shortages and there are mechanisms to quickly deliver drugs that are not available locally by collaborating with health systems in foreign countries.
After the Covid pandemic, some drug companies have cut production and closed factories, reducing drug availability. The ministry pointed out that some administrations have imposed bans on the export of locally produced life-saving drugs to other countries and the political situation in some producing countries has fueled the crisis.