A change has been brought about regarding medication storage in order to solve the issue where Maldives is not receiving medication, where pharmacies inside medical centers and stand-alone pharmacies have been split into two grades.

Director of the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) Aishath Jaleela told Mihaaru News that the guideline previously stated that all pharmacies are to have 70 percent of the medication on the essential medicine list. It includes medication for use in emergency situations.

However, Jaleela said regular routine has shown that pharmacies do not carry 70 percent of the required medication.

The essential medicine list has more than 400 medicines.

"If a guideline is in place but is not being enforced, we have to see why it is not being done as such. Concerns from pharmacies include difficulties due to medicine that does not see general use being brought in," said Jaleela.

The MFDA has brought about a change to the guideline for medicines in pharmacies in order to solve that issue.

According to Jaleela, the amount of medicine carried by a pharmacy in a health facility will vary depending on the level of the facility. As an example, she stated that a pharmacy that operates within a tertiary hospital will have more medicine compared to pharmacies being operated in a Level 3 hospital.

A statement released by the authority yesterday reads that since the grade classification has been put into place, pharmacies are to stock medication up to 80 percent depending on the grade. Six months have been allocated to fulfill that requirement.

The statement reads after a new pharmacy has been registered, permission to conduct sales will only be given after the pharmacy has stocked the required amount of medicine based on their category.

While the guideline has seen changes, the shortage of medicine in Maldives has been a core issue. The government created a separate company last year in order to solve said issue.