Health Minister seeks prosecutorial reaction to deficit of insulin in drugstores

Health Minister Andrei Usatii will notify the Prosecutor General's Office, requesting a reaction to the deficit of medicines, in particular of insulin, registered lately in the Moldovan drugstores, Info-Prim Neo reports. At a news conference on Friday, Minister Usatii criticized the Medicines Agency for the failure to secure the procurement of insulin and hemodialysis consumables on time, suggesting that the deficit has been created on purpose. There are around 12,000 insulin-dependent diabetes sufferers in Moldova and the insulin reserves should be enough for 45 more days. The Minister said a new consignment is expected to arrive next week, which should cover the need for insulin for the remainder of the year. The Minister also informed that following an evaluation of drugstore prices, it was found that the prices of two-thirds of medicines remained unchanged, 14.7% of medicines became cheaper and 14.2% increased in price. Andrei Usatii went on to add that not any important medicine will be allowed for sale in Moldova until its price is assessed and registered in a transparent manner. For this purpose, a special team of experts will be created so that people could buy medicines at fair prices.