State Pharma to Launch Database for Chronic Disease Medicine Shortages

State Pharma, the national medicine company, has announced plans to establish a special database to share information on chronic disease medicines that are unavailable in various parts of the Maldives with the public and relevant parties. The company said the main purpose of the arrangement is to quickly identify difficulties faced by those seeking treatment for chronic diseases at health centres and pharmacies across the islands in obtaining the medicines they need, and to find a quick solution. Speaking at a special event held to show journalists how the company's main medicine warehouse in Hulhumalé operates, State Pharma's Chief Commercial Officer Ahmed Imad said information related to medicines is currently being collected from various islands of the Maldives and from relevant institutions. He noted that by opening the database containing that information so that the public can also use it, it will become easier to arrange the required amount of medicines for each island. He said the aim is to test the project within the first quarter of next year and then expand it across the whole of the Maldives. State Pharma said that by establishing a system through which information can be provided directly to the public, issues of medicines running out can be identified immediately and the supply of medicines to those who need them will be faster. Imad said work is ongoing to identify islands that currently need medicines for chronic diseases, look at the amount of medicine needed for those islands and supply it without interruption. He said the government's main aim is to facilitate a sustainable path through which basic and chronic medicines can be obtained without difficulty from any island. "We are now obtaining that information from various islands of the Maldives. With the cooperation of relevant institutions also, we are doing this work so that the database is established within us and also released to the public, so that those persons can share that same information," Imad said. Speaking about difficulties faced in importing medicines from abroad, he said that although delays have arisen in some cases due to regulatory matters and supply chain complications, those matters are now being resolved and brought in order. He noted that, with the cooperation of the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) and the Ministry of Health, work is proceeding with ease granted to the stages of importing medicines. State Pharma also requests that if there is any difficulty or complaint related to medicines at this time, information be shared by calling the call centre number 1505. In addition, State Pharma said arrangements have been made to bring and supply medicines unavailable in the Maldives when those medicines are uploaded through the company's portal, and that work is ongoing to launch within the next two weeks a platform through which the price of medicines and information on the places where they are available can be viewed. State Pharma is a company 100 percent owned by the government, formed by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu to import medicines and medical supplies into the Maldives and to arrange the availability of medicines across the whole of the Maldives. The government has said the company was formed with the purpose of resolving the difficulty of medicines in the Maldives and supplying quality medicines and medical equipment without interruption across the whole of the Maldives. Accordingly, the operations of more than 190 pharmacies previously run by STO have been transferred under State Pharma.