Shortage of psychiatric medicines worsens crisis
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on TimesLIVE
A shortage of sedatives and antipsychotics, including olanzapine and quetiapine, is putting pressure on public psychiatric services in Gauteng and exposing patients and healthcare workers to increased risks. South Africa’s Department of Health attributes the shortages to manufacturing delays and global supply disruptions, according to the Sunday Times.
Shortages of chronic medicines in public healthcare facilities in Gauteng have worsened difficulties in providing psychiatric care, with shortages affecting olanzapine and quetiapine in particular. Provincial Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale attributed the disruptions to manufacturing delays, difficulties sourcing active ingredients and global freight and logistics problems.
Facilities also lack medicines used to treat conditions including hypertension, diabetes, HIV, cholesterol, epilepsy and asthma, according to Foster Mohale. At a hospital in Tshwane, an official said the lack of sedatives and stabilising treatments was making it harder to care for newly admitted, undiagnosed or relapsing patients, with some becoming aggressive towards staff and other patients.
The official recounted that a week earlier, a psychiatric patient had removed the oxygen from a seriously ill patient before breathing with the same equipment. She also reported regular assaults on nurses in overcrowded wards that, she said, lacked sufficient staff and security.
