IGBA Struggles To Find Data On Global Drug Shortages For WHO

IGBA Reports Inconsistent And Missing Data Related To Supply Chains For Key Drugs

25 Jan 2023

• By Rosalind Rei

An IGBA research report suggests international health bodies lack an accurate picture of global essential medicines shortages due to issues with monitoring and recording.

Two empty blister packages of pills against pale blue background, with one pill outside the packs — Lack of Data Hampers Insights Into Drug Shortages • Source: Shutterstock

The International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (IGBA) says it has struggled to find “verifiable market data” on global “shortages of priority injectable antibiotics and injectable oncology drugs” and other essential drugs that are “critical to health care delivery among WHO-targeted low and middle-income countries.”

The comments came in the IGBA’s progress report updating the World Health Organization on its work for the IGBA’s Drug...