If you suffer from depression, you may be in a special problem in recent months, because you can't find lek which has been prescribed for you as therapy.
They confirmed for "Vreme" that there are no medicines in a Belgrade pharmacy. "We need it every day, but there is none," says the pharmacist briefly.
In the Republic Health Insurance Fund for N1, they announced that they are aware of the problem of the shortage of medicines venlax, advent, venlafaxine and others with the active substance venlafaxine.
"There are three drugs from different manufacturers on the list of drugs, but the manufacturer that dominantly supplied the market with this drug had a global problem in production worldwide, as a result of which the delivery of that drug temporarily stopped, and the other two manufacturers could not compensate the total demand for the drug venlafaxine with their quantities", stated the RFZO in the answer transmitted by N1.
They also add that RFZO undertook all activities in a timely manner to secure additional quantities of the drug venlafaxine and implemented the (emergency) public procurement procedure for this drug.
The replacement drug should be on the market next week, according to the RFZO.
Unregistered generic drug
"The availability of this (unregistered) drug is expected during the next week, and the market will be supplied with a substitute (unregistered) drug until sufficient quantities of registered drugs are provided," reads the RFZO's response to N1.
The portal was addressed by a reader from Kragujevac who claims that for more than six months the Serbian market has been facing a shortage of drugs used to treat depression in adults.
How many people in Serbia suffer from depression?
According to the estimates of the World Health Organization from 2017 in Serbia from depression more than 400 thousand people suffer.
In the research on the health of the Serbian population in 2019, it was determined that 2,1 percent of the population showed symptoms of depression, which is lower than in 2013 (4,1 percent), data from the Institute for Public Health of Serbia, Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut.
At the end of last year, the domestic media published much milder, but unofficial data, according to which about 250.000 people suffer from depression in Serbia.
What is depression?
Depressive disorder, also known as depression, is a common mental disorder. It involves depressed mood or loss of pleasure or interest in activities over a long period of time.
Depression is different from the regular changes in mood and feelings associated with daily life. It can affect all aspects of life, including relationships with family, friends and community. It can result in or lead to problems at school and at work.
It is estimated that 3,8 percent of the world's population experiences depression - five percent of adults and 5,7 percent of those over the age of 60, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Approximately 280 million people worldwide have depression. Depression is about 50 percent more common among women than among men, according to WHO data.
Source: Vreme/N1
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