Filenews 3 April 2023 - by Marilena Panayi
Major damage to the pharmaceutical warehouses of the Ministry of Health. Large quantities of medicines were destroyed by the natural disaster that hit Nicosia on Clean Monday morning, while thousands of packages were deemed necessary to be transported to another location in order not to be affected by the water that flooded the premises.
The Ministry of Health, since that day, has been in a state of alert, with its competent Departments measuring the damage and at the same time promoting the procedures for replenishing the stocks that have been destroyed, as there is now – among other things – a question of sufficiency of medicines for the coming period.
From the first moment, the Health Insurance Organisation and the State Health Services Organisation were informed, on whose behalf the Ministry keeps the stocks of medicines in these warehouses, while the Authorities are in full cooperation with all companies importing these preparations into Cyprus.
Despite the efforts made in the previous two weeks to prevent any information from reaching the media, "F" was informed and obtained photographs which he publishes today.
The rainwater and hail, which fell that day in the capital, found an entrance from the roof of the premises, due to damage to the protective false ceiling, resulting in flooding of warehouses and great damage to thousands of packages of medicines that were in them.
A special committee has been set up at the Ministry of Health, in which all its competent Departments participate, in order to carry out the necessary control, identify and record packages whose contents have been destroyed, transport stocks that were not affected by water to a safe place and promote the necessary procedures, in cooperation with suppliers. to replace medicines that have become obsolete.
The process of separating the medicines that were destroyed is still ongoing, since the checks made are detailed and meticulous as there is no room for mistakes which, in turn, may have a serious negative impact on patients.
The financial costs that will arise after the completion of this process also cannot yet be calculated, although there were tens of millions of euros worth of medicines in the warehouses.
In cases where the inspection has been completed and the quantities destroyed have been identified (per medicinal product), importers have been informed to replenish stocks and some quantities have already been replaced. As we are informed, the process of replenishing stocks will be continuous in the coming period, since the aim is not to create shortages that will endanger patients.
It is reported that specialized medicines are stored in these warehouses, which are administered to patients, either through the procedures of the Nominal Requests Committee of the Ministry of Health, or by state pharmacies through the GHS. At the same time, all medicines purchased by the SHSO for public hospitals are stored.
It is also noteworthy that a few months ago the Ministry of Health promoted the procedures for securing other storage areas for medicines, as it was long ago judged that this particular premises was unsuitable.
