Health Minister Denies Allegations of Drug Shortage

Minister of Health, Social Protection and Social Coverage, Khalid Aït Taleb, rejected on Tuesday the allegations made by some professionals of the pharmaceutical sector in Morocco concerning the shortage of the national stock of drugs, especially cold medicines, which are part of the treatment protocol of Covid-19, in particular chloroquine, erythromycin, zinc, vitamin C and vitamin D, paracetamol and heparin. The national stock of drugs against the common cold and under the treatment protocol of Covid-19 is sufficient to cover and meet the needs of citizens for more than three months, whether in hospitals or distributors and manufacturers, said the minister at the meeting of the Committee on Social Sectors in the House of Representatives, devoted to the study of draft law No. 98.18 on the National Order of Pharmacists. Ait Taleb stressed that professionals who have recently made allegations about a shortage of national stock of cold medicines and drugs under the protocol for the treatment of Covid-19, are faced with financial and legal problems with distributors who prevent them from obtaining sufficient quantities to market them in their pharmacies. The national stock of medicines in Morocco is subject to strict and permanent control, the Minister stressed, stating that the degree of compliance with the reserve stock of all essential medicines is monitored on a weekly basis by the National Observatory of Drugs and Health Products, the Directorate of Medicine and Pharmacy. He recalled that since last week, inspection teams are mobilized to check the availability of drugs at suppliers of pharmacies in various regions of Morocco, noting that according to weekly reports of field monitoring, it appears that manufacturers and distributors have confirmed the absence of interruption or disruption of production in the national stock of cold medicines and drugs under the treatment protocol of Covid-19, which has been proven on the ground for a week. Ait Taleb called on pharmacists to report any shortages related to certain essential medicines and to contact either their distributors or the National Observatory of Drugs and Health Products to request information from the source.