The tense situation in the Gulf region and the Hormuz crisis are not only affecting fuel and gas. Its serious impact is also visible on medicines and other essential items. Two medicines related to cancer have almost disappeared from the market. In the last 2 weeks, medicines named Cisplatin and Carboplatin, considered important for the treatment of cancer, are not available in shops across the country. These medicines for chemotherapy are cheap.
Cancer experts (oncologists) have expressed concern about the shortage of these medicines. Industry experts say that the main reason for the shortage of these medicines is the huge increase in the prices of raw materials. The Hormuz crisis has further increased this problem. Also, even after increasing costs, companies are not able to increase prices because they come under the price control of the government.
Medicine is important for 7 out of 10 patients
According to the newspaper Indian Express, Dr. Shyam Aggarwal, Chairman of Medical Oncology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said, “Cisplatin and carboplatin have run out in the pharmacy of our hospital. About 7 out of every 10 patients coming to the clinic need one of these medicines. These medicines are used for many types of cancers like mouth, lung, cervical, ovarian, esophageal and breast cancer. “Are prescribed for the treatment of cancer.”
He said, “Now, due to their shortage, cancer patients are forced to wander from one shop to another in search of medicines. My fellow doctors in other cities are also facing a similar situation.”
Low dose medicines missing from shops
Similarly, Dr. Abhishek Shankar, oncologist of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, says, “There is a shortage of these medicines for the last at least 2 weeks.” Another oncologist from Delhi said that low dose medicines have completely disappeared from the shops, while high dose medicines are still available in some shops.
There is a crisis in Mumbai also. Dr Mohan Menon, medical oncologist at Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, said that there has been a shortage of all chemotherapy medicines made from platinum. The main reason for this shortage is the huge increase in platinum prices worldwide. He said, “The price of this precious metal used to be Rs 2,700 per gram in the middle of the year 2023, but now it has increased to more than Rs 7,800 per gram.”
On the other hand, the stock of these medicines with wholesalers and stock keepers is also getting exhausted rapidly. The owner of a big retail pharmacy in Delhi said, “At present, these medicines are not available in almost any medical store in the country. Most of the stock keepers and wholesalers have also run out of their stock. The little stock that is left, they are talking about selling it directly to the patients instead of the retailers.”
Big reason behind shortage of medicines
However, since the beginning of the war, due to rising prices of raw materials, the prices of many medical products, especially petrochemical based products, have increased significantly, but the companies manufacturing these two medicines have not increased their prices. Also, these medicines come under the ‘Drug Pricing Control Order’ (DPCO), which monitors and controls the prices of all essential medicines in the country. The price of any medicine falling under DPCO can be increased only according to the average increase in wholesale prices every year.
The prices of platinum, a precious metal used in medicine, are also continuously increasing. The main reason for this is the decrease in production in South Africa, the world’s largest supplier. Apart from this, its use has increased in the automotive sector as well as in the production of green hydrogen. And now the tense situation in West Asia has made the situation worse.
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