Bahrain: Alternatives for out-of-stock drugs available at pharma stores

Bahrain: Alternatives for out-of-stock drugs available at pharma stores

Alternatives are available at pharma stores across Bahrain for medicines to treat common cold, fever and allergies that have gone out of stock, a top official confirmed. National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) CEO Dr Mariam Al Jalahma, yesterday said that alternatives manufactured by different brands are available in the pharma market in the Kingdom.

Dr Mariam’s response comes after reports about shortage of many drugs in the market including Advil Cold and Sinus tablets, Unifed Extra and Salinal. “The authority would like to clarify that all mentioned medicines have alternatives available across pharmacies,” she pointed out.

The authority publishes a list of all medicines along with available alternatives through the authority’s website. Dr Mariam explained that the authority has taken a number of measures to facilitate the import, licensing and registration of medicines, health products and medical devices to ensure their speedy entry and distribution in the Kingdom. Dr Mariam stressed that the authority is keen on ensuring the availability of all medicines and has taken a number of measures related to the renewal of registrations. The authority also follows up with all agents the dates of arrival of unavailable medicines and the reasons for delaying them, she added.

The National Health Regulatory