Russians face shortages of vital drugs as sanctions imposed after Ukraine invasion bite
Russians are struggling to get hold of vital medication, including types of insulin, drugs to treat thyroid issues, anti-depressants and blood thinners after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, according to reports.
Panic-buying and logistical problems caused by Western sanctions are thought to be fuelling the shortages that have continued since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Experts and health authorities insist the shortages are short-term, but there are worries high-quality medications will become increasingly difficult to get in the Russian market.
The Associated Press news agency said people had contacted them from several different cities across Russia saying they had spent days searching for certain thyroid medications, types of insulin or even a popular pain-relieving syrup for children.
“Not a single pharmacy in the city has it now,” a resident of Kazan told AP in late March about a blood thinner her father needs.
“Most likely there will be shortages. How catastrophic it will be, I don't know,” said Dr. Alexey Erlikh, head of the cardiac intensive care unit in Moscow Hospital No. 29, and a professor at the Moscow-based Pirogov Medical University.
Ziyautdin Uvaysov, head of the group, told AP he personally checked with several state-run pharmacies in the region on the availability of ten most-wanted medications and "they didn’t have a large number of these.”
Uvaysov added that when he asked about when supplies would be restocked, the pharmacies replied that "there aren’t any and it’s unclear when there will be.”
Despite assurances from authorities that people hoarding supplies was to blame for the empty shelves, shortages have continued.
Vrachi.Rf, one of Russia’s biggest online communities for medical workers, surveyed more than 3,000 doctors in mid-March, and they said they had run into shortages of more than 80 medications: anti-inflammatory, gastrointestinal, antiepileptic and anticonvulsant drugs, as well as antidepressants and antipsychotics.
Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has repeatedly given assurances that drug availability is not a problem in the country and has blamed any shortages on panic-buying.
He said the demand for certain drugs has spiked tenfold in recent weeks, and he has urged Russians not to hoard the medications.
Nikolay Bespalov, development director of the RNC Pharma analytical company, pointed to logistical problems caused by crippling Western sanctions.
While major Western pharmaceutical companies pledged not to withdraw vital medications from the Russian market, Russia’s key banks were cut off from the SWIFT financial messaging system, hindering international payments.
Supply chains were also disrupted after dozens of countries halted air traffic with Russia. According to some estimates, Russia imports up to 40% of its drugs.
Russia’s health care watchdog Roszdravnadzor said in a statement on Friday that “the situation on the drug market is gradually returning to normal, panic-buying of pharmaceuticals is decreasing.”
The issues that have arisen in Russia since February 24 have compounded existing problems with imported drugs after authorities launched a policy to promote its own medications over foreign-made ones.
The policy, which came in after sanctions were imposed on Russia in response to its annexation of Crimea, outlined a wide range of preferences to Russian businesses and eventually made it unprofitable for foreign pharmaceutical companies to supply some of their expensive, high-quality drugs to Russia.
“We have already been gradually losing one important original medication after another. Generics are taking their place, and while there are some rather good ones made in Europe, there are also some dubious ones made in Russia,” Dr Erlikh said.
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