Tons of expired medicines found in Libyan hospitals

Over 100,000 tons of expired medicines have accumulated in Libyan hospitals, a health official has revealed. According to Wafa Ghiryani, Chairperson of the Commission to Dispose of Expired Medicines at the health ministry of the Tripoli-based government, the stockpile includes special drugs to treat serious illnesses such as cancer, HIV, diabetes and asthma.

“Hospitals import drugs directly,” she told Turkey’s Anadolu on Sunday, “not through the ministry of health and without coordination or accurate records, which leads to their accumulation.”

She pointed out that the relevant authorities have recently formed a committee in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and the General Authority for the Environment in Libya to dispose of the stockpile. However, the current instability in the country has delayed the process.

The accountability office in Libya said in its annual report last year that the country spent nearly 2.3 billion dinars ($1.67 billion) over the past three years on medicines and medical supplies. The report added that the amounts spent on pharmaceutical support were not matched by equivalent services due to the weakness of the drug policy, which contributed to the rise of financial corruption in the medical supplies sector.