Acute shortage of medicines in China

BEIJING: Amid the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases in China, the pharmaceutical industries are finding it difficult to cope with the high demand for medicines after the Xi Jinping-led government announced relaxations in its zero-Covid policy.

Many people have started resorting to consuming expired medicines due to the acute shortage of medicines in China, local media reported.The local versions of Tylenol and Advil are nearly impossible to find at pharmacies in China, fueling anger across the nation, CNN reported in December. In order to calm panic buying, regional governments have initiated measures to limit sales and increase the supply of popular fever drugs. China has even curbed the export of various raw materials used in the production of essential drugs, leading to shortages of these drugs in countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party's announcement regarding relaxation of epidemic prevention and control measures from January 8 has triggered apprehensions across the country that COVID-19 cases could rise further.

Pharmaceutical companies in China are working at full capacity to ensure the supply of key medicines for COVID-19 control, Xinhua reported. Lanzhou Foci Pharmaceutical Co. in China's Gansu province has been working to manufacture medications for cold and respiratory infections. Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in China's Shandong Province is specialized in producing fever reducers and pain relievers and it has increased the production of ibuprofen 24 hours a day to meet the demands, according to Xinhua.

Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd said that its capacity has reached 10,000 tablets of ibuprofen per minute, as per the Xinhua report. Furthermore, efforts have also been made to ensure targeted and reasonable medicine dispatching. (ANI)