Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Sunday said a shortage
of drugs in South Africa and worldwide is the result of profit-run
pharmaceutical companies who do not distribute medicine based on the needs of
the patient.
“In this problem of drug supply, all over the world, is
that, the sales of these medicines are from companies that are in business.”
"This shortage is beyond our control," said
Motsoaledi. "[There is a] problem of drug supply all over the world. We
source these medicines from companies and their actions and decisions are not
always based on the needs of patients but on what makes business sense,"
the minister said.
He said first-line antibiotics, in particular
penicillin-based drugs, were also in short supply. The department believes the
shortage is attributable to pharmaceutical companies moving away from
manufacturing antibiotics in favour of producing drugs on which they can make
more profit.
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