On the main al-Ma`una Street in Khartoum North, Abdou al-Taj's troubles were aggravated by his search for an antibiotic for his sick mother, although this item was available in the neighborhood pharmacy near his home before the escalation of the drug crisis in Sudan.
The features of the drug crisis began since last January, when the Bank of Sudan canceled allocating 10% of the proceeds from non-oil exports, and was directed to import the medicine.
In a scenario that reflects the "floundering" of state policies in the pharmaceutical sector, the pharmacist, Samaher Al-Mubarak, of the Professional Pharmacists Association, says that in March the government decided to reinstate the allocation of 10%, before it was canceled again by a decision of the Prime Minister.
The more time passes, the scarcity of the drug increases and widens in Khartoum and other states, until it reached a climax in May, due to the lack of most of the most commonly used drugs in pharmacies, forcing their owners to declare a strike.
Scarcity of items
The strike began on May 31, but the next day it was lifted at the request of Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdock, to begin a series of consultations between pharmaceutical sector partners, including manufacturers, importers and pharmacists, to solve the problem.
During these attempts to contain the scarcity of medicines, the Sudanese struggle to obtain prescriptions. The circulation of leaflets and tweets related to inquiries about medicines, is a common topic on social media platforms.
According to Rania Mamoun, director of pharmaceutical institutions for the Department of Pharmacy in the Ministry of Health in Khartoum State, about 75% of the drugs traded are experiencing a shortage of pharmacies.
Rania says to Al Jazeera Net that her administration supervised a tour of Khartoum pharmacies, and monitored that most of it is closed not only because of the strike and the scarcity of medicine, but because of the shortage of cadres working due to the conditions of complete closure to contain the Corona pandemic.
The dollar crisis
The official acknowledges that the drug is so scarce that the Ministry of Health has struggled to provide medicines for part of its crews, who have been infected with the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19) in isolation centers.
And she points out that the ministry looked for mere antibiotics and heat reducers for its infected cadres, without finding them on the market, forcing it to turn to drug factories and use the drug supply after running out of factory stocks.
Rania considers that providing the government with a monthly sum in dollars to import the medicines is difficult to fulfill, which requires annual funds, before requesting to take into account the negative economic impact caused by the Corona pandemic.
And she demanded that the state allocate credits in dollars at the official price (in the range of 55 pounds to the dollar) so that drug importers and manufacturers do not have to provide the dollar from the parallel market at 140 pounds per dollar, which exacerbates the crisis.
On the attempts to demonize workers in the pharmaceutical sector, Rania warned against profiles that affect importers such as the "drug mafia", without taking into account the lack of sources of funding in hard currency except through the black market.
Last May, Federal Minister of Health Akram El Toum canceled a price set by local pharmaceutical factories, causing a crisis in which manufacturers threatened to stop production.
Gray policy
On the other hand, the blessed Samahra blamed the government for not setting a clear drug policy over the past months, because of its concern to provide goods that appear in the streets such as fuel and bread.
She explains that the drug is a strategic material, such as flour and fuel, that requires deliberate policies and annual credits of up to 660 million dollars, because the drug plan requires preparation for a long time, and it is expected that the current crisis will extend even if funding is available.
Samaher states that despite the state’s recognition that the drug is a strategic commodity, in return it allocates “zero” aid to the Medicines Supply Authority (government agency) and to the private sector (importers and manufacturers).
The spokeswoman refuted the accusations against the workers in the pharmaceutical sector, and led to the suspension of allocating 10% of the proceeds from non-oil exports to them, saying that there are technical aspects related to distribution and control that can be easily activated.
It ruled out the existence of stored medicines, since the quantities of medicines that entered the country this year do not exceed 10 million dollars, while the annual bill for importing the medicine is about 400-500 million dollars.
Endeavors to solve
In the context, Yusef Shikak, from the Division of Drug Importers, says that the country has remained for nearly half a year without a clear drug policy, in the absence of the necessary sensitivity to deal with a strategic commodity such as medicine.
In his talk to Al Jazeera Net, skepticism suggests that the government create a portfolio that works to meet the annual pharmaceutical sector requirements of hard currency estimated at $ 650 million.
A request for savings of $ 55 million per month is distributed as follows: $ 20 million for the Medical Supply Fund, $ 25 million for the import of the medicine, and $ 10 million for drug manufacturing; Provides $ 40 million immediately to tackle the current crisis.
Despite the ongoing consultations between representatives of the pharmaceutical sector and the government led by Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Omar Manis, pharmacists still have plans for escalation, including a protest pause tomorrow Thursday in front of the cabinet, leading to a partial strike after 10 days.
Meanwhile, patients continue to suffer from their medications, including Al-Imam Al-Imam (60 years old), who suffered from acquiring "Lisicin" tablets, a nutritional supplement advised by the pharmacist not to overburden himself by looking for him at the present time.