Despite the presence of over 800 pharmacies across the Maldives and a significant portion of the national health insurance budget being allocated to pharmaceutical claims, the unavailability of essential medicine has escalated into a national crisis, said Aminath Zeeniya, Managing Director of Aasandha Company.
Her remarks were made during yesterday’s meeting of the Parliament’s Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (SOE), where heads of relevant government institutions and state companies were summoned to address the ongoing medicine shortages.
During the meeting, Zeeniya revealed that approximately 60 percent of Aasandha’s total budget is spent on reimbursing pharmacies. However, she noted that the public continues to voice complaints over difficulties in getting prescribed medicines from pharmacies.
While Aasandha provides coverage for all medications included in the Maldives Food and Drug Authority’s (MFDA) approved drug list, a significant number of these items are not being imported into the country.
Limya, the Planning Manager of STO Pharmaceuticals who represented the State Trading Organization at the meeting, clarified that although there are 5,000 medications on the approved drug list, only 1,300 are currently being imported.
Zeeniya highlighted that a primary obstacle to medicine accessibility is the weak regulatory framework, which fails to verify whether pharmacies maintain stocks of essential medicines. She further noted the lack of a robust inventory management system for pharmacies and the absence of an adequate mechanism to track the volume of medicines imported into the Maldives.
One of the most critical issues in the pharmaceutical market is the exorbitant profit margins charged by pharmacies, Zeeniya said. She disclosed that some pharmacies apply markups between 500 and 600 percent, pointing out that no system has been established to date to regulate wholesale rates.
Zeeniya also raised concerns regarding fraudulent billing, where Aasandha is billed for expensive brands after cheaper alternatives are dispensed to patients. She noted that while a bulk procurement system was introduced to mitigate these issues, only a very limited number of medicines have been brought in through that system so far.
Following the introduction of generic medicine last year, many consumers complained about perceived low quality. However, Aasandha maintains that all medications registered and sold in the Maldives undergo quality assurance protocols.
Zeeniya further observed that because importers bring in medicines independently, the brands available in the market fluctuate frequently, leading to inconsistency for patients.
