Western Cape health authorities are strengthening measures to protect patients from medicine supply disruptions while calling for greater national coordination to secure reliable access to treatment.
The response is particularly important for people living with chronic conditions who rely on uninterrupted medication and cannot simply postpone treatment when supply-chain difficulties occur.
Western Cape Minister of Health and Wellness Mireille Wenger has called for a coordinated national response to medicine availability challenges affecting healthcare services across South Africa.
Rather than individual provinces responding to shortages independently, Wenger wants improved national monitoring that could identify pressure points earlier, coordinate available supplies and enable medicine to be redistributed where it is most urgently needed.
“Medicine supply constraints are a country-wide challenge and requires a coordinated national response. Our patients deserve access to the medications that they need, and it is our responsibility to find and implement solutions to unblock and mitigate these challenges,” Wenger said.
Medicine availability is currently being affected by several pressures across the pharmaceutical supply chain, including manufacturing and regulatory challenges, supplier constraints, import and customs delays and delays in testing and releasing certain medicines.
Wenger initially raised the matter ahead of the National Health Council meeting in June. The Council, which brings national and provincial health authorities together, subsequently recognised the need to strengthen coordination and monitoring of medicine availability.
With supply pressures continuing, Wenger wrote to national Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in September requesting further national intervention and clear timelines for proposed measures.
A coordinated monitoring system could provide health departments with a more complete picture of medicine availability across the country.
“Coordinated monitoring across provinces will give all departments a clearer picture of medicine pressures. It can identify shortages earlier, improve planning and support redistribution of available stock where appropriate,” Wenger said.
“The purpose is to ensure that national government coordinates the information and actions needed to support every province and protect patients wherever they live.”
While broader solutions are being pursued, healthcare teams are already using a range of measures to help patients continue receiving treatment.
The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness conducts weekly monitoring at the Cape Medical Depot and reports medicine availability and supplier performance to national government.
Available stock can be redistributed between healthcare facilities when necessary, while alternative medicines are sourced where clinically appropriate. The department can also support temporary imports where required.
Pharmacists and clinicians play an important role when a patient’s usual medicine is temporarily unavailable.
Depending on the circumstances, healthcare professionals can provide an alternative strength, pack size or formulation or prescribe an appropriate therapeutic substitute.
Where stocks are limited, medicine can also be distributed between patients in smaller quantities while additional supplies are secured.
These interventions are designed to protect continuity of care rather than leaving patients without treatment while supply problems elsewhere in the system are resolved.
The department has encouraged patients to ask healthcare professionals questions if their medication looks different, their treatment changes or their usual medicine is unavailable.
Patients should continue collecting their medication and should not stop treatment or change how they take prescribed medicines without first consulting a healthcare professional.
The response demonstrates how cooperation between pharmacists, clinicians, provincial authorities and national government can help protect patients when pressure develops elsewhere in the healthcare supply chain.
Ultimately, improving medicine security is about more than managing stock. It is about building a health system capable of identifying problems early, sharing resources effectively and ensuring that where a patient lives does not determine whether they can access the treatment they need.
