Shortage of glucose test strips creates panic among patients in Saudi Arabia

Many pharmacies and private hospitals raised the prices of diabetes test strips by 30 to 40 percent on short notice, exploiting the crisis resulting from a shortage in public health centers and governmental hospitals, Al-Madina newspaper reported.

Patients appealed to officials in the Ministry of Health to take urgent action to make available diabetes analysis tools in hospitals and health centers.

Officials said that they are currently working on finding solutions to the problem.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Commerce and Investment blamed the price increase on the Saudi Food and Drug Administration.

Abdullah Alsalmy, a father of several children having diabetes, was one of the people severely affected by the crisis. "I was shocked when I went to a private pharmacy to buy the test strips. I saw that the test strips were priced more SR150. Obviously, they were exploiting the shortage," he said.

"Diabetes is quite common in the Kingdom and patients need glucose meter with the test strips for daily checks before using medicines. Unfortunately these test strips have become difficult to find," said Sultan Al-Asiri after visiting many specialized centers for diabetics, which appeared to have no more test strips in stock.

Diabetes patients created a hashtag on Twitter to express their resentment for the ministry's lack of concern. One patient tweeted that the glucose meter and test strips are important to ensure that the glucose level is normal and to avoid complications that might cost the ministry more in case the patient's condition precipitated.

Another diabetic asked the Ministry of Health via the same hashtag to raise funds for the diabetes awareness campaign that will start next month.

He urged the ministry to try to supply the test strips through governmental hospitals and health centers because a lot of patients cannot afford to buy them from private pharmacies due to their high prices.

The Ministry of Health, on the other hand, has been reluctant to disclose the reasons that led to the shortage of test strips.

When contacted by Al-Madina, the ministry simply responded by saying that it was working to solve the crisis.