In at least 25 Russian regions, drugs have disappeared from pharmacies, containing the active ingredient roxithromycin, reports "Notices" based on data from regional pharmacies.
The newspaper found a lack of three more similar drugs: there is no erythromycin in pharmacies in 12 regions of the country, clarithromycin in six, and azithromycin in five. According to "Notices" these are widely used antibiotics.
All four drugs are in short supply in Dagestan, Crimea, Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and other regions.
Sales of drugs in pharmacies in a number of regions have stopped due to the transition to other, more modern drugs, suggests Nikolay Bespalov, RNC Pharma development director. In his opinion, these antibiotics are "moving into the category of niche antibiotics that are used for specific diseases or prescribed to patients with certain characteristics where the use of other drugs is associated with risks".
Production and supply of these drugs have declined dramatically over the past year. Imports from China cannot satisfy the Russian market.
The drugs, the shortage of which has been noticed in Russian pharmacies, are also widely used to treat the genitourinary system, skin and soft tissues, and are also prescribed for Lyme disease, Svetlana Kanevskaya, a general practitioner, told the newspaper.
These drugs are replaceable and their absence is not a catastrophe, confirmed Harutyun Vardanyan, general practitioner and pulmonologist at the "Dr. Aleksandrovski" Medical Center.
The listed antibiotics have long been known to medicine and are successfully used against infectious diseases, such as pneumonia or sore throat, Marina Berezhnaya, a general practitioner and head of the emergency and urgent care department at the European Medical Center, told the publication.
"Although they are widely used in medical practice, this does not mean that other antibiotics cannot be used to fight infectious diseases,", she added.
At the same time, the doctor Pavel Khoroshev noted that although these drugs are replaceable, there are cases when they are necessary: "For example, in the fight against the bacterium Helicobacter pylori in 98.5% of cases leading to gastritis and peptic ulcer , clarithromycin is prescribed. In this case, there are no analogues.