The Ministry of Public Health and Population confirmed that the continued aggression and blockade threaten to halt Yemen’s health system, including the National Drug Supply Programme.
At a press conference held Saturday by the National Drug Supply Programme, Sana’a, to present the consequences of aggression and blockade on the pharmaceutical sector, the Ministry demanded that the United Nations assume its humanitarian responsibilities and resolve problems related to the health sector in general and the pharmaceutical sector in particular and immediately rescue patients by facilitating the entry or provision of medicines as required, especially lifesaving medicines.
It also called for the lifting of the blockade and the opening of air, sea and land outlets, notably Sana ‘a Airport, to all commercial and international flights and humanitarian assistance, especially for pharmaceutical shipments and medical supplies, continues to be facilitated and accessible.
The statement read by the Ministry’s official spokesman Dr. Anis Al-Asbahi called on the United Nations to allow unconditional access to pharmaceutical aid without conditions or detention, or to delay as a purely humanitarian task.
Require health organizations to pay attention to the provision of lifesaving medicines and facilitate their entry, including kidney growers’ medicines and immune drugs and joint cooperation to effectively cover the need.
The statement stressed the need to work towards the rehabilitation of the National Drug Supply Programme in order to provide an integrated drug service in conformity with global requirements and enhanced field supervision of medical supplies.
He noted that, with its modest capabilities, the Programme has been striving to meet the high need for critical and life-saving medicines in a sustained, effective and equitable manner and to distribute them to the beneficiaries.
The statement described the program’s efforts over the past few years to provide generic drugs for the first time, in addition to its usual work as a humanitarian initiative to save the lives of many patients, especially during the aggression against the country. Noting that the increasing number of rare and immunological diseases at the present time will contribute to the non-provision of service in the future as a result of the continuation of the blockade.
The Director General of the National Pharmaceutical Supply Programme, Dr. Samir Al-Sanafy, reviewed the programme’s efforts to meet the needs of patients with medicines supported on the national list of essential medicines, indicating that it had worked on the purchase of medicines as well as the receiving and disbursing of health aid and assistance, in particular insulin for diabetics, drugs for kidney transplants, immune diseases, haemophilia, pressure, heart, epilepsy, liver sclerosis and drugs for stunts.
The total number of patients directly benefiting from the program 169 thousands and 627 cases of chronic illness.
Al-Sanafi stressed that the aggression and the blockade had caused a health disaster and difficulties, the consequences of which had affected the functioning of health institutions, including the drug supply programme, in particular the difficulty in supplying vital medicines as a result of companies’ apologies and interruption in their supply and the difficulty in importing them despite the call of agents, the lowering of official tenders, as well as the closure of vital ports of entry, primarily Sana ‘a International Airport and the port of Hodeidah, have caused interruptions and denial of access to certain vital medicines for multiple periods owing to the intransigence of the aggression.
The withholding of aid and containers at air, sea and land ports in areas controlled by the aggression and its mercenaries had brought the expiration period of medicines closer, poor storage and increased costs added to detention fees, among other things.
The Programme administrator noted that the embargo had increased the cost of vital medicines provided by the programme on an ongoing basis, such as kidney growers’ medicines, because of the difficulty in obtaining them through official agents or through working organizations,
the aggression also caused an increase in the number of patients, especially rare, genetic and immune diseases such as hemophilia and liver and those whose high-cost medicines were supplied and were previously unavailable.
He addressed the difficulties faced by the program such as the coronavirus pandemic and the spread of epidemics such as diphtheria cholera, rabies, etc.
Source: Yemen News Agency