Medication Shortage in Tunisia to Gradually Improve
The Secretary General of the Tunisian Syndicate of Private Pharmacists, Mohamed Saleh Kedachi, confirmed on Thursday evening that the crisis of supplying certain medications will gradually resolve starting from next week.
In a statement to the Tunis Afrique Presse Agency, he specified that "imported medications that have recently experienced shortages will make a gradual return to the local market." He added that distribution in private pharmacies will resume for thyroid and epilepsy medications (for which a local generic is available), as well as certain diabetes medications. Furthermore, a solution has been found regarding the supply issues of anticancer medications, which are not available in private pharmacies.
This improvement, according to Kedachi, follows the latest meeting of the Medication Observatory at the Ministry of Health, although the syndicate was not invited to this meeting.
Kedachi also emphasized that the medication crisis did not start today. The first signs appeared in 2014-2015 due to problems with social security funds and the accumulation of debt towards the Central Pharmacy, the sole importer of medications. The lack of liquidity has repeatedly forced the state to intervene and inject funds to rectify the situation, but the liquidity crisis has resurfaced.
The Secretary General pointed to the responsibility of the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM) in exacerbating the crisis due to its delayed payments to pharmacists. This situation has affected hundreds of private pharmacies (2,600 in Tunisia) in their ability to purchase and provide medications to patients. He added that many private pharmacies are in a critical financial situation, having not been paid for nearly six months.
He called for urgent intervention from the prime minister to settle the CNAM's arrears, threatening to suspend the sectoral agreement between the two parties if no concrete solution is found.
A restricted ministerial council, chaired on Wednesday by Prime Minister Najla Bouden Romdhane, had already approved a series of measures to rationalize and better govern the pharmaceutical system. The objective is to ensure a continuous supply of medications for all citizens while ensuring the sustainability of the system.
According to a statement from the prime minister's office, the council recommended strengthening the financial resources of the Tunisian Central Pharmacy and intensifying control of the pharmaceutical system to improve its governance. It was also recommended to monitor the supply of the local market with medications via a digital platform that will improve distribution and stock management.
Among the other approved measures, the council recommended adopting new mechanisms for better system management, implementing a complete digital transformation, and reducing the examination period for marketing authorization (MA) requests for imported medications without generics in Tunisia. Finally, it was recommended to proceed with a radical and complete revision of the health insurance system.
