Dengue Outbreak: Saline disappearing from store shelves in Dhaka

Injectable saline solution, an essential fluid used for treating dengue patients, has become scarce in retail drug stores in Dhaka due to a surge in demand caused by the growing number of patients.

Among the 11 types of injectable saline solutions, normal saline (0.9 percent sodium chloride solution) is the most used.

This correspondent yesterday failed to get a single bag of normal saline after visiting 17 drug stores in Green Road and Mohammadpur College Gate areas in the capital.

Besides, owners and salesmen of around a dozen drug stores in Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Savar areas also reported the similar saline crisis, which has been prevailing over the last one month.

Officials of several private hospitals said they are also struggling to maintain their regular stock as the saline-producing companies have started rationing the product to cope with the overwhelming demand.

There is no sign of improvement of this situation even after the drug administration requested the six saline producers to increase production at a meeting on June 27.

Health experts blamed the lack of preemptive action by the health and family welfare ministry for this crisis.

Prof Rashid-E-Mahbub, president, Health Rights Movement, Bangladesh National Committee, told The Daily Star yesterday, "As there is a crisis, the health ministry should take the lead... It's not that difficult to increase production."

"I don't think the companies are unable to meet the rising demand; there must be something unethical going on in distribution. The government should act."

Hossain Ali Khandaker, additional secretary (Drug Administration and Regulation Unit) at the ministry, said no meeting was held over the issue at the ministry, but the drug administration is working to tackle the situation.

"I have recently learnt about the crisis from newspapers. I would talk to the secretary sir (secretary of the Health Services Division)," he said.

He said, "In fact, only private pharmaceutical companies produce the saline. If they don't have the capacity to meet the demand, [saline] can be imported."

While this correspondent was talking to Lifecare Pharmacy manager on Green Road yesterday, Md Ali, distribution assistant of Popular Pharmaceuticals Ltd, appeared.

Ali said, "The demand for normal saline is the highest. If a drug store asks for 10 cartons of saline (each carton has 10 bags), we can only deliver one or two cartons and that too late."

He added that supply of saline to around 13 hospitals in Green Road area has been severely disrupted.

"The hospitals in this area now have a demand for about 500-600 cartons of Popular saline a day, but we can only supply 60-70 cartons."

Mamunur Rashid Russel, manager of Central Hospital on Green Road, corroborated Ali's statement.

"We usually maintain a week's stock of normal saline, but we now only have a three-day stock left," he said, adding that they have placed an order for 200 bags of saline to each of the six companies per week.

"But each of them can supply only 15-20 bags," he told this newspaper.

When asked for a bag of normal saline, Khairul Islam, a salesman of Bangladesh Pharma, one of the major drug stores in front of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in College Gate area, suggested looking for it in the drug stores inside the hospital.

"Even if you pay me double the actual price, I cannot give you a single bag. You can look for it inside the hospital. Because the companies have been prioritising the hospitals," Khairul said.

Saline producers, on the other hand, claimed that the crisis is at "manageable level".

"There is a crisis, but it is not like that the hospitals will run out of saline. We have been prioritising need-based supply," Khairul Bashar, assistant vice-president of Orion Infusion Ltd, told this correspondent yesterday.

He said his company over the last one month has been running its factory even on the weekends and is currently producing around 2,200 bags a day.

"Around 80 percent of our production is normal saline. All six companies collectively can produce around one lakh bags of saline daily. So, there is no need for importing saline," he added.

The other saline producers are -- Beximco, Libra Infusions, Opsonin, Popular, and The ACME Laboratories.

Md Salahuddin, deputy director at Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), told this newspaper on Sunday, "It is not possible to increase production overnight."