Paloma Valencia assured that Minister Carolina Corcho is blocking the entry of medicines into the country to increase their production in Colombia

Through his Twitter account, Paloma Valencia, senator from the Democratic Centerdenounced that the Minister of Health, Carolina Corchohe would not let drugs into the country which have been indicated by different companies as “out of stock”.

« Minister Corcho rejects the medicines that are lacking in Colombia to be able to give flight to his ugly idea of ​​producing state drugs in alliance with the Cuban dictatorship,” Senator Paloma Valencia wrote in a tweet posted on the morning of Thursday, March 16, 2023.

And it is that he too Director of the National Food and Drug Monitoring Institute (Invima) Francisco Rossiconfirmed in a video that the head of the health portfolio was making it difficult for medicines to enter the country strengthen the state pharmaceutical industry in Colombia.

“The minister received a visit from drug traders who, list in hand, tell us that it is out of stock, I put it in a week in a container in Bogotá at a minimum price; It seems to us that this is the only solution that does not make sense in a country like Colombia, which wants to strengthen its industrialization and is counting on all players to solve this problem“, underlined the director Francisco Rossi.

Acemi, the Colombian Association of Comprehensive Drug Companies, has highlighted that there is a shortage of 1,242 active drug ingredients in the country. The patients most affected by this are those who need medication to control blood pressure, since these, in particular, are the most absent in Colombia. Talk about products like Amlodipine, Valsartan or Enalapril.

Other drugs that are also out of stock are those for patients with mental health problems, such as: quetiapine, trazodone or risperidone. Medications to control pain are also in the same situation: acetaminophen, diclofenac and ibuprofen. To this list are added the drugs delivered to patients with problems cardiovascular, with cancer, epilepsy, diabetes, HIV and pulmonary hypertension.

“We are particularly concerned about the availability of several key active ingredients to ensure adequate care for people with chronic diseasesparticularly drugs for the treatment of mental disorders and certain antibiotics and painkillers,” commented Paula Acosta, Executive Chairman of Acemi, in testimonials compiled by snail radio.

This problem is not new, indeed, according to the association, supply problems have been on the country’s radar since mid-2022. Only 15% of the situation could be controlled.

In February, Invima (National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance) reported that it was investigating a possible shortage of drugs for Mental Health.

“After hearing press reports of an alleged shortage of medicines containing an active ingredient Desvenlafaxine in Colombiathe National Institute for Food and Drug Monitoring (Invima) carried out the relevant surveys and, after direct communication with the players most present on the market, managed to verify that this drug was not lacking and that availability is sufficient to meet the needs of the countryreads the community revealed by the entity.

“Regarding an apparent shortage of drugs for mental health, Invima has also indicated that it is preparing the corresponding technical studies that will allow it to publish in the coming days the official communication in which the real context of these drugs in the country is described. , i.e. to know if their situation on the market is normal or if they are actually out of supply, in shortage or at risk of shortage“, added the Invima.

In early February, the Attorney General for Labor and Social Security, Diana Margarita Ojeda He asked the Ministry of Health and Invima to address the shortage of 720 drugs in the country. “The various health sectors, in various meetings they have had with the Attorney General’s office, have informed us of the shortage of supplies that is occurring in the country. For this reason, we send a list to the Ministry of Health where we reference more than 720 drugs that are becoming rare in distributors, ”reported the manager at the time.