A CONSULTANT for 20 pharmacies and the Fiji Pharmaceutical Society says they are aware of the shortage of n95 masks and hand sanitisers in pharmacies across the country.
Superdrug Pharmacy director Abhay Nand said the shortage was a result of people buying the products soon after the coronavirus outbreak was declared.
The shortage, he said, was compounded by India and China’s ban on the export of masks and hand sanitisers.
Mr Nand facilitates business management, quality care and staff training for pharmacies in Fiji and across the region.
He has been in the industry for more than 30 years. “Only India and China are manufacturing these masks,” Mr Nand said.
This is a big issue now.
“The demand is so much, even Australia has run out of masks, causing the prices to go up.
“There is a shortage of n95 masks and hand sanitisers across the world and it’s affecting Fiji.”
For Superdrug Pharmacy, he said they had sold out about 600 2 litre bottles of hand sanitisers since the virus was declared.
Mr Nand said n95 masks were specifically made to protect people from coronavirus.
“The n95 masks are the ones for coronavirus, we have run out of stock. But people in Fiji are just using ordinary masks and other kinds of masks.”
Fiji Pharmaceutical Society president Reenal Chand said masks and hand sanitisers had ran out of stock just two weeks after the virus was declared.
He said the shortage could be a global issuee causing an increase in prices of masks and hand sanitisers sold in pharmacies across the country.
When approached to comment on the subject, Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete said all measures have been put into place.
He said masks and hand sanitisers for government pharmacies were budgeted and catered for.
“We have been preparing our own,” Dr Waqainabete said.
“For the measles campaign, we had five million dollars set aside for that. But we have prepared ourselves well this time.”
In a coronavirus speech update in Parliament yesterday, he said a national taskforce had been established by the ministry to meet and plan and co-ordinate Fiji’s national response to the outbreak of coronavirus.
The taskforce is chaired by Fiji’s chief medical adviser and comprise divisional medical officers, heads of divisional hospitals, heads of national programs and representatives from the private health sector, medical experts from the Fiji National University, and representatives from technical agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Public Health division, donor agencies, and civil society.
