Kejan Haynes
Patients struggling to access medication for chronic diseases, cancer and some psychiatric conditions could see improvements, with Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe promising action to address shortages in the public health system.
The shortages include but are not limited to, breast cancer drugs exemestane, anastrozole and letrozole.
Speaking during debate on the national budget in Parliament late Saturday night, Bodoe acknowledged the problems with the supply of drugs under the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP) and said steps were being taken to make the medicines available as quickly as possible.
He said CDAP covered 52 items and that arrangements were being made to address shortages, including providing safe alternatives where the prescribed drugs were unavailable.
“I have in my hand here a list. There are 52 items on CDAP,” Bodoe said.
“My information is that the four areas where the drugs are (in short supply), and I’ve been given the assurance that all is being done to have these drugs available in the shortest possible time.”
The minister said he had engaged a pharmacy adviser to visit CDAP pharmacies and hospital pharmacies to investigate the shortages firsthand.
The adviser would work alongside ongoing efforts involving the Ministry of Health and the National Insurance Property Development Company Limited (NIPDEC) to address problems affecting the supply of medicines.
Bodoe also addressed concerns about access to cancer medication, acknowledging the high cost of oncology drugs and saying the Government was working on a policy to improve their availability.
“Cancer drugs can be very expensive,” He said. “But of course the government provision and assurances to provide these drugs, and we are in the process of drafting a policy that will speak to an integrated approach and how we can treat with these drugs and make sure they are available.”
He said a group of oncologists was developing an integrated approach to cancer care and updating the national oncology formulary, which guides the selection of medicines for procurement.
The aim, he said, was to ensure that the most relevant and cost-effective medicines were available while maintaining standards of efficacy, safety and quality.
Bodoe assured Parliament that the Government was working to address the shortages and improve the supply of medication to patients.
The issue was raised by Opposition MP for Arouca/Lopinot Marvin Gonzales, who said patients facing shortages of cancer medication often did not know where to turn.
“There is serious shortage of cancer medication in Trinidad and Tobago, and many of these patients do not know where to turn,” Gonzales said, questioning what provisions the Government had made in the budget to address the problem.
Bodoe said the Government was also addressing storage and distribution problems, including those associated with the ageing C40 warehouse. He said plans were under way to construct a new centralised warehouse for pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical supplies.
