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No prescription drugs in pharmacies, patients protest – and still paying

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The citizens of Skopje have been complaining about of the lack of medication on prescription in the pharmacies across the capital. For days now, citizens have been going from chemist to chemist looking for medication they can buy with a prescription, however the only way possible for them to get their medication is if they pay for them ‘privately’, which is much more expensive.

Many people have told our Journalists at “Meta” that the biggest problem is with antibiotics, and medication for people with cancer, which cannot be bought in Skopje with a prescription.

Pharmacies from across the city claim that they work with a specific quota of various medications, basically meaning that they can only give out a certain amount of some medications on prescription, while the rest have to be sold ‘privately’ for this month. People with prescriptions will have to wait until a new month begins, to be able to buy the medication they need with a prescription, at a reasonable price. Pharmacies are also saying that they are not to blame for the current situation, but it is the Macedonian Health Insurance Fund’s (FZO) fault.

Tomica Novakovski, from the neighborhood of Aerodrom in Skopje, spent a whole day looking for anti-biotics which had been prescribed to him by his doctor after they discovered Mr Novakovski had lung inflammation. However he failed to find a pharmacy who would sell the drugs to him on prescription, and was forced to buy them, what is known here as ‘privately’ meaning at a much more higher price, than he would normally procure with a prescription.

“I’ve been everywhere in the city to find this antibiotic, and nothing. I immediately wrote to the Ministry of Health, and they told me that in the next few days, there would be drugs available on prescription. The pharmacies also said the same thing. What should I do in the meantime? Shall I wait for the 1st of next month? What about my health? What if I don’t have the money to buy the medication ‘privately’? Asks Mr Novakovski.

Another individual who is finds themselves in a very similar predicament is Sonja Milenkovska who has cancer, and needs the drug “tamoxifen” for regular therapy.

“You can’t get it on prescription . At the pharmacy , I told them how important this drug is for me, but they just shrugged their shoulders and say it’s not their fault. I do not know where the problem is, but what i do know, people can not live like this. For some people, the drug is more important than food”, said Sonja Milenkovska.

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