A nation-wide drug shortage has prompted the government to pump in an extra BD5 million ($13.2 million) in its BD15m ($40 million) budget to purchase more medicine, it was revealed.

The shortage includes 900 different kinds of medicines, which in many cases have run out in health centres.

"Many of these are now being procured from the pharmacies and many more are being imported from the surplus stocks of neighbouring countries," said a ministry source.

The move comes after members of a parliamentary health committee last week met ministry under-secretary Dr Aziz Hamza and discussed complaints about the shortage.

The committee members said they had received patients' complaints about the shortage at various hospitals, including Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).

"The shortage is due to some contracts being renegotiated after some major currencies were revalued," said another source.

The other reason was that some of the drugs have a limited shelf life and there were not enough facilities to store them in Bahrain.

"The supply chain was affected, but it is being build-up again," said the source.

Sources also said Bahrain aims to import around BD20 million worth of drugs by the end of this year.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa had also asked the ministry to ensure there was no shortage.

The directives followed complaints from several patients that some life-saving drugs were in short supply at the SMC.-TradeArabia News Service