'GPO should help with medicines'

Group members such as the Rural Doctors Society (RDS) Rural Pharmaceutical Club(RPC), People’s Health System Movement, and Network of People Living with HIV/Aids joined hands to lodge a complaint at the GPO’s office. 

The GPO’s board promised last month to open a new drug plant in Rangsit by early next year, and to produce some essential medicines for patients that urgently need |medicine. But there was no update on both of these plans.

Apiwat Kwangkaew, the heath group representative and president of the Network of HIV Sufferers, said the shortage of drugs was a terrible problem for some hospitals. 

“Some hospitals in many provinces still need to provide 10-15 tablets of Efavirenz (EFV) to patients per time while some have to immediately purchase that medicine from private pharmaceutical companies to ensure there are reserves of medicines for patients,” he said.

The group reminded the GPO of its demand for a committee to be formed to examine the role of GPO director Siwat Chawareewong, whom the group believes might not follow this board’s policy.

“So far, there’s not yet been a proper assessment of his performance. If he’s not effective, the organisation should not make him stay or the organisation’s tasks will continue to be held back,” he said.

Supatra Nakapew, director of the Foundation for Aids Rights, said the shortage of medicine would increase in the future if the problem was not solved. “Some drugs, such as Clopidogrel, which used to be exported from India for every health system, under a purchase arrangement by the GPO, have now become limited in our health system. It might become deficient in the future.”