Stores out of saline, suppositories as dengue crisis deepens
Drugstores in the capital are struggling to meet the soaring demand for injectable salines, suppositories, and blood bags as the dengue situation continues to deepen.
To make matters worse, many dengue patients, in desperate need for platelets, are in dire straits due to a donor crisis. Blood banks such as Quantum Blood Lab, one of the top platelets suppliers, said they have been struggling to manage blood donors for the past two weeks.
The surge in demand for platelets has led to a shortage of blood bags, which are mainly imported. The prices of double and triple blood bags have almost doubled in the market as the import of these bags has remained halted.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh recorded 10 deaths from dengue infection in the 24 hours till Tuesday morning, taking the death toll to 426 this year, the highest ever in a year, according to data from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Also, with the fresh hospitalisation of 1,984 people, the number of total dengue hospitalisations has reached 89,875. Of the new cases, 731 were reported in Dhaka and 1,253 from various parts of the country.
On Monday, 18 people died of dengue, the highest figure for a day this year.
To deal with the saline shortage, the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) has ordered pharmaceutical companies to ramp up production of the life-saving solution.
In addition, the DGDA has formed eight teams for monitoring the drugstores in Dhaka so that unscrupulous traders cannot take advantage of the situation and create an artificial crisis of dengue drugs and saline.
Sohel Mahmud, storekeeper of "Ma Pharmacy" in the Eskaton area, told TBS on Tuesday, "We received a box of Napa suppositories on Monday, seven days after placing the order. All sold out that day. We had to turn back many buyers today. Our store has also been out of injectable saline for days."
The demand for suppositories and saline has increased manifold due to the rise in dengue and other viral fevers. Earlier, a box of suppositories used to last a week, but now it runs out in a day. Drug companies are not able to provide products as per orders, Sohel added.
Employees of another popular pharmacy, Lazz Pharma, in Moghbazar also said the supply of suppositories and saline is very low in the market against the demand.
Rajib Hossain, an employee of Kazi Pharmacy at Shahbagh, said saline and suppositories are not being sold without prescriptions amid a short supply.
However, despite the increase in demand, prices of saline and suppositories have not increased, according to drug companies and pharmacies.
Meanwhile, blood banks are facing a dearth of double and triple bags. The Red Crescent Blood Bank, which meets a large demand for blood in hospitals, is facing a shortage of blood bags as demand for platelets has surged.
Dr Zahidur Rahman, in charge of the Red Crescent Blood Bank, told The Business Standard, "We do not have any triple blood bags. We are keeping platelets by using other blood bags or using alternative methods. The triple bags available in the market are very expensive now."
Currently, a double blood bag is selling for TK650-700 in the market. The price earlier was Tk340-350. The price of a triple bag is around Tk700 and was sold for Tk400-405 earlier.
Atiqur Rahman, president (Dhaka District) of the Bangladesh Medical Instrument and Hospital Equipment Dealers and Manufacturers Association, told TBS, "There is a severe shortage of double and triple blood bags in the market due to non-approval of DGDA on opening LCs for import. Dengue patients are suffering due to this."
He urged the DGDA to give approval to traders for opening import LCs.
Blood donor crisis
The demand for platelets has surged since June. At present, blood banks and patients are unable to find donors.
A dengue patient admitted to Health and Hope Hospital in the capital could not find A+ blood.
Abul Kashem, a relative of the patient, told The Business Standard, "I contacted four donors with A+ blood group and all of them said they had already donated blood recently."
Shamima Nasrin Munny, an organiser of Quantum Blood Lab, one of the top platelets suppliers, said the donor crisis has been going on for two weeks.
"There is a demand for 210 bags of platelets every day but we are having difficulty finding blood donors, especially those who have negative blood groups and AB+ blood groups," she added.
Drug companies running at full capacity
Nurul Alam, spokesperson and deputy director of the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), told TBS that demand for injectable saline has increased 20 times with the worsening of the dengue situation.
"Drug companies usually produce saline in one shift but we have asked them to produce saline in three shifts and also on holidays. Now the companies are producing 1,00,000 bottles of saline per day," he said.
"Only seven companies produce saline and there was a lack of coordination among them. But that issue has been resolved. But many companies make suppositories, so there should not be a shortage of suppositories. We will monitor whether there is a crisis or not. The approval of LCs will be considered to meet the blood bag crisis," Nurul Alam added.
Rabbur Reza, Chief Operating Officer of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd, told TBS, "Considering the growing number of dengue patients, we are producing 30,000 bags of intravenous saline in three shifts a day. This is our maximum capacity."
"Although demand for suppositories has increased in the market, I do not think there is a crisis," Rabbur Reza said.
Orion Infusion Ltd is also producing 25,000 bags of saline in three shifts a day, including on holidays, to meet the growing demand.
Khairul Basher, assistant vice president of Orion Infusion Ltd, told TBS, "On 14 August, we supplied 1,40,000 bags of saline to Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL). Besides, we have supplied 1,50,000 bags to the local market. We are also delivering saline to hospitals and patients, directly, on demand."
