Drug Shortage Concepts Among Stakeholders in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: To identify stakeholders' understanding of drug shortage and the internal process of reporting a drug shortage to the Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA).

Evaluate the clarity of the communication channels and the stakeholder's satisfaction.

A secondary objective was to explore the impact of COVID-19 on drug shortage in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study consisting of three separate surveys targeting: Health care providers, National Unified Procurement Company (NUPCO) registered in Saudi-vigilance, and pharmaceutical companies/storage that are registered in (RSD). Descriptive analysis such as percentages and frequencies was preformed to describe the knowledge and the practice of the targeted stakeholders

RESULTS: Drug shortages was defined by healthcare institutions as the unavailability of the product in the agent's stocks and by NUPCO as zero stock, and confirmation by pharmaceutical companies of product unavailability. Positive Feedback on drug availability services; 55% supplying agents compliance, 69% drug availability improvement and 89% SFDA contribution to facilitate drug availability. Satisfaction on reporting system was reported by (47%) of healthcare institutions and (43%) of pharmaceutical companies’ .COVID-19 pandemic impact on drug shortages: Most pharmaceutical company identified highest impact on different medication groups (39.7%) and antibiotics (22.2%). Most Healthcare institutions identified highest impact on antiviral medications (80%).

CONCLUSIONS: Most of the stakeholders had a positive feedback and satisfaction rate on services of SFDA drug availability department. For the COVID-19, as expected, COVID-19 had a noticeable impact on drug shortages and demands in Saudi Arabia.