Corruption busted, how ACA unfolded mystery of penicillin disappearance?

CAIRO – 18 December 2017: The Administrative Control Authority (ACA) arrested the president of one of the major pharmaceutical corporations over the latest penicillin shortage crisis, which has erupted five months ago, according to an ACA statement released on Sunday.

The arrest followed a wide investigation launched by the authority to determine the culprits behind the disappearance of penicillin from pharmacy shelves, which proved that the defendant’s corporation was monopolizing importing the vaccine to Egypt.

Penicillin is one of the most widely used antibiotic agents and can be used to help fight diabetes.

“Investigations revealed that the defendant was involved in importing the vaccine for his own interest to make profits at the expense of citizens’ interests,” the statement read. “The monopolization resulted in the shortage of penicillin in the country, as well as committing financial violations,” the statement added, affirming that the defendant’s case is currently under investigation by the General Prosecution.

Earlier on Sunday, head of the ACA Mohamed Erfan stated that the authority has uncovered the reasons for the shortage of both penicillin and insulin from the market, adding that whoever is responsible for the crisis will be brought to quick justice.

During an interview with Sada al-Balad TV channel, Erfan told the host of Salet el-Tahrir (Newsroom) program, Azza Mostafa, that the ACA is investigating the crisis along with the General Attorney and that the culprits’ names will be announced within hours.

“ACA has formed a committee to pursue the medication with all parties responsible for providing it at the meantime,” Erfan told Sada al-Balad, affirming that whoever made the mistake will be held accountable.

Egypt has been suffering from a penicillin shortage for the past five months, which caused a controversy because of the importance of the medication for millions of Egyptians.

In 2011, the International Diabetes Federation estimated that approximately 7 million people were living with diabetes in Egypt. By 2013, the number had increased to 7.5 million, making Egypt the world’s 9th highest country in terms of the number of people with diabetes, with an average daily mortality rate of 237 caused by diabetes since 2013, according to the statistics on the official website of the leading global healthcare company in diabetes care, Novo Nordisk.

Spokesman of the Ministry of Health Khaled Mujahid announced on December 14 that the ministry stepped in to address the penicillin shortage through a raft of measures.

A total of 200,000 packs of penicillin were pumped in the market on Sunday, according to Rasha Ziadeh, the head of the Central Administration of Pharmacy Affairs at the Ministry of Health.

Ziadeh asserted that the Ministry of Health will conduct regular inspections of the pharmacies across Egypt on a daily basis, ensuring that there is an adequate amount of the medicine for all patients. Around 84,000 inspections of pharmacies took place between January and October this year, in an attempt to combat black market activities, according to Moustafa al-Sayed, the director of the Health Ministry's Pharmaceutical Inspection Department.

Al-Sayed added that the department has prepared different committees, in cooperation with the Ministry of Supply, to control those who phase out and monopolize medicines.

To face the penicillin shortage, the department monitored the distribution of penicillin daily from Egyptian pharmaceutical trading companies to markets. Al-Sayed also referred to a recent report that revealed a penicillin surplus in many pharmacies, which means the recent crisis is being resolved.