2012 Volume 38 Issue 10 Pages 656-663
The remote islands in Nagasaki Prefecture have medical institutions such as no pharmaceutical wholesaler offices (“wholesalers”). This has caused concerns about the supply of prescription drugs (“drugs”), resulting in disadvantages for patients (such as health risks caused by not being able to take medicine). In order to clarify the condition concerning the availability of drugs on remote islands, we conducted a survey on the “availability of drugs” involving member pharmacies of the Nagasaki Pharmaceutical Association.
In the survey, we collected and analyzed cases whereby a prescription drug could not be supplied to the patient on the day of prescription. In over 70% of cases, we received answers stating that they “had patients wait for a few days”. Among them, cases in which drugs were supplied within two days amounted to 80%, while there were also cases requiring seven or more days to supply the drug, making up approximately 3%. On remote islands, especially those without wholesalers, the supply is dependent on boatlift. The problem could be partly due to the present distribution system. Furthermore, since the generic drugs amounted to 78% of the cases whereby the drug could not be obtained within a day on remote islands, there were cases of failure to supply drugs, such as antineoplastic, antibiotic, and antitubercular agents. It is necessary to request the administration to increase the number of vessels in service between the mainland and remote islands, as well as to establish a more stable and prompt pharmaceutical supply system on remote islands.
