South Africa faces critical shortage of insulin pens
There's no insulin production facility in South Africa and Novo Nordisk has suspended its supply of insulin pens to the Department of Health, citing production capacity challenges.
Woman Holding an Insulin Injection Pen / Pexels: Pavel Danilyuk 7653692
Africa Melane interviews Christina Pitt, a health journalist at Bhekisisa.
Listen below.
South Africa is experiencing a severe shortage of insulin pens, a crucial resource for millions of individuals living with diabetes.
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This crisis was triggered when pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk suspended its supply of insulin pens to the Department of Health, citing production capacity challenges.
"There's no insulin production facility in South Africa, so the hormone is mostly imported."
- Christina Pitt, Health journalist – Bhekisisa
Pitt explains that this situation forces individuals to manually fill syringes with insulin from vials, a time-consuming process.
For those who cannot make this transition, she notes that the government has allocated a supply of insulin pens.
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This includes support for visually impaired individuals, the elderly, and others who depend on the user-friendly design of the pen, which allows them to easily set the correct dosage by simply turning a dial.
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.