“You find yourself going through the pharmacy directory and calling pharmacies down the list until if you are lucky enough to find it, one tells you they have one box left in stock.”

“We then have to ask the pharmacist to keep it aside, until we drive to any corner of Malta just to fill our prescription,” she detailed.

“You find yourself rushing to that pharmacy, wherever it may be. If you don’t find it, the doctor will then have to change the prescription.”

However, oftentimes, the infection at hand will need a particular product, which might not be covered by a different type of medication. 

“A few months back I ended up giving my kid three courses of antibiotics in a row as the one originally prescribed was not in stock and the secondary ones were not really working for the particular infection she had,” she continued.

During the last few days, Lovin Malta also personally contacted a number of pharmacies around the island, covering each region, to check about the medicine shortage.

From a total of six pharmacies contacted, covering areas as far as Żabbar, Mellieħa, and Gozo, not one had this specific children’s antibiotic in stock.

Currently, there are as many as 40 medicines that are out of stock on the Maltese islands, and it is still unclear when these will be made available again.

Have you been personally affected by the medicine shortage?