The Ishikawa Pharmaceutical Association on January 18 urged Health Minister Keizo Takemi that emergency measures be taken to lift the shipment restrictions of certain medicines within the quake-hit prefecture.
Keiji Nakamori, president of the association, met Mr Takemi in Kanazawa to directly make this request as the minister visited the Ishikawa capital in the aftermath of the massive earthquake on New Year’s Day.
Mr Nakamori told Jiho that he made the plea in order to secure the necessary drugs in areas affected by the disaster. In response, Mr Takemi instructed officials accompanying him to convey this request to the ministry headquarters, according to Mr Nakamori.
An association of drug distributors in Ishikawa Prefecture and the Federation of Japan Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association (JPWA) on January 9 had made a joint request to the Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Associations of Japan (FPMAJ) to prioritize supplies of products under shipment controls and other necessary medicines to the Hokuriku central Japan area. However, the shortage in medicines has not yet been resolved for pharmacists dispensing drugs at the frontline, including Mr Nakamori himself.
Also, as secondary evacuations progress, from the most affected areas to Kanazawa and other regions, the shortage of drugs is becoming an issue for not only the hardest-hit zones but the whole of the prefecture. The Ishikawa Pharmaceutical Association thus asked the minister for the execution of bolder measures.
Speaking to Jiho, Mr Nakamori emphasized, “Wholesalers are making requests to manufacturers, but the situation has not changed at all between before and after the earthquake.”
Mr Nakamori also told the minister that the pharmacy outlets he runs have reported that they are currently not seeing deliveries for 10 medicines, including the expectorant carbocysteine, antipyretic analgesic Calonal (acetaminophen), and montelukast, a treatment for bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis.