GAUTENG. – "Changes in the colour, shape, packaging or manufacturer of a medicine do not necessarily mean the medicine itself has changed." The Department of Health is reassuring the public that medicine supply in the public health sector is stable.
According to Foster Mohale, departmental spokesperson, the department is aware of concerns about medicines at public health facilities in various provinces being marked as "out of stock", as well as cases where patients receive medicines that look different from those they previously received. Approved suppliers must comply with strict regulatory and quality standards. Where more than one approved supplier provides the same medicine, patients may receive products from different manufacturers over time. Although the medicines may look different, they contain the same active ingredients, are of the same strength and quality, and offer the same therapeutic benefits. The department says these medicines are approved as safe, effective and interchangeable. Healthcare workers can therefore provide an equivalent medicine to ensure patients' treatment continues. Patients uncertain about the appearance of their medicines are advised to speak to their doctor, pharmacist or nurse.
The department says reports of medicine shortages do not necessarily mean patients are left without treatment. In some cases, a specific brand name, package size or supplier's product may be temporarily unavailable, while an equivalent medicine is available. Medicine supply is monitored by the National Surveillance Centre and other reporting systems, including the web-based Stock Visibility System (SVS).
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
